


Rose-Tinted

by StormySeaWitch



Category: Glitch Techs (Cartoon)
Genre: ANd sometimes we straight up ignore canon like it didn't happen shhhhhh, Canon Divergence, Contains SPOILERS for season 1B, DLDR, Deaf Mitch, Elite Gamer Mitch, F/M, Hearing Impaired Mitch, Hinobi Corporate, Lexi is a little shit, Mitch and Miko are partners, Mutual Pining, OCs - Freeform, Occasional swearing, Rescue Missions, Secret branch of Hinobi, Side pairing Five/Zahra, Slow Burn, Spy AU kinda but not really, Tags may change as fic progresses, Tragic Mitch backstory, canon ages so mitch is 18 and miko is 16, dead dove do not eat, frenemies to lovers, memory loss/erasure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:00:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 56,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26132302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StormySeaWitch/pseuds/StormySeaWitch
Summary: ‘Welcome to the Hinobi Rose Order,’ the woman began. ‘I am Agent Thorn. You may call me Agent, or Thorn, but nothing else. Is that understood?’There was a smattered murmur of yesses, all garbled by the helmets.‘Good. You have all received your headset upgrades. They are not for use outside of this facility except under very specific circumstances, which we will go over later. A reminder that breaking any of the rules of HRO will result in your entire Hinobi career being wiped from your mind. Is this understood?’Again, the group mumbled their understanding.‘Good. Then let us begin,’ Thorn said with a half-smile. It was unsettling, like a predator trying to coax prey closer, and Miko felt nerves start to bundle in her stomach. What had she gotten herself into?Or, Miko caught the attention of a secret branch of Hinobi Corporate, and now she's partnered with Mitch Williams of all people.
Relationships: Mitch Williams/Miko Kubota, Mitch/Miko, Mitchko
Comments: 89
Kudos: 217





	1. Rose-Tinted

**Author's Note:**

> Friendly reminder to check the tags and remember; if you don't like, don't read!  
> Welcome to the HRO!

_Did you know that he won his first competition when he was six?_

_I'm Mitch Williams.  
I am the number one gamer in this city._

_You take that away from me, you may as well take everything._

*

**CHAPTER ONE: _ROSE-TINTED_**

Had she not been very, _very_ attached to her GlitchTech gauntlet, Miko would have slammed it on the ground in frustration.

‘You no-good, hair gel for brains, thieving _jerk_ ,’ she snapped, settling for waving her hands in the air. ‘How have you not been _fired_ already?’

Mitch grinned as the last of few pixels of the glitch disappeared into his gauntlet. ‘As if,’ he scoffed, flexing his fingers. ‘Hinobi needs me.’

‘You’re only as good as you are because you’re a thieving piece of-‘

Mitch let out an overdramatic sigh and turned his back on the younger techs. ‘Bored now,’ he said. ‘See you at HQ, blueberries!’

Five put a hand on Miko’s shoulder to calm her down. ‘At least the glitch isn’t terrorising anyone anymore?’ he offered with a smile. ‘That’s the main thing, right?’

‘No, Five,’ Miko grumbled. ‘That’s not the main thing. The main thing is that I’m going to shove him into the glitch depository, so I don’t have to look at his stupid, smarmy, smug face anymore!’

‘Ohhkay… spaghetti in a bucket on the way home?’

Miko hesitated, then nodded, even though she was still furious. 

The drive back to HQ alternated between silent fuming, ranting, and slurping their food, but they both had to wonder; why was Mitch allowed to get away with being an actual monster?

*

‘You two look like you mean business,’ Phil said, barely looking up from his keyboard.

‘We want to talk about Mitch,’ Miko said, arms crossed.

‘Classified.' The manager continued typing like there weren't two junior techs in his office.

Five frowned, sharing a look with his partner. Miko wasn't happy with this answer. ‘What do you mean?’ she growled.

The manager stopped typing and scratched his chin. ‘Classified means I’m not allowed to tell you-‘

‘I know _what_ classified means,’ Miko grumbled. ‘But _why_ is it classified?’

‘If I told you, I’d have to kill you.’ Phil rested his chin on his hand. ‘If you think you’re getting more out of me, then you’re wrong. Do you know how many Techs come in here asking me to reign him in?’

‘But whatever you’re doing isn’t helping,’ Five protested. ‘He steals xp, uses his gauntlet aggressively, uses the mind wipe for free stuff-‘

Phil held up a hand to stop them from speaking and stood up from his desk.

‘Like I said, Techs,’ he offered, picking up his mug and leaving the office. ‘It’s classified. I’ll talk to him this afternoon, but I can’t promise any improvements.’

Five and Miko stared after him.

‘Oh, and there’s a staff meeting in fifteen minutes. Make sure you’re there, it concerns you both,’ Phill called from down the hallway.

*

Since their shifts were technically over, the pair wandered down to the HQ level of Hinobi and watched the other Techs go about their business. Mitch had claimed the most comfortable chair in the lounge space and was typing away at his phone. Miko scowled – who could he be texting? Everyone knew Mitch pretty much lived at Hinobi.

‘What did I do now?’ Mitch asked without looking up. ‘I can feel you stabbing me with your eyes.’

‘Does it hurt?’ Miko asked sweetly, falling into the chair opposite him. Five remained standing, an action she knew meant that he was prepared to drag her somewhere else, just in case she accidentally tried to punch Mitch again.

Mitch Williams scoffed and finally looked up from his screen. ‘Yes, I’m wounded. Everyone here loves me and no one would ever hurt me.’ His voice dripped with sarcasm.

‘I’d sell you to Satan for a corn chip,’ Miko fired back.

‘Miko…’ Five warned.

‘No, no,’ Mitch held up a hand. ‘It’s healthy to get all this out. We don’t want Miko holding in all her anger until her head blows up, do we?’

Miko jumped to her feet, ready to serve Mitch a piece of her mind, when Phil stepped onto the balcony that overlooked everyone. Her fury deflated like a sad balloon when he made eye contact with her.

‘Whatever,’ she mumbled, sitting back down. This time, Five sat beside her.

‘When the meeting is over, do you wanna come back to mine and we can try and take out the Shadow Knight in Castle of the Dead?’ Five offered, giving her a hopeful smile.

‘You’re not actually _stuck_ on that, are you?’ Mitch asked, quirking an eyebrow.

‘Do you hear someone talking, Five? Because I swear it was just you and me in this conversation,’ Miko replied quietly, so Phil wouldn’t hear. ‘But… yeah. That’ll be fun, thanks.’

‘His chest doesn’t have a hitbox,’ Mitch said, standing as Phil called the staff in for the meeting. ‘You need to take out his head with ranged weapons while he’s running at you.’

Then he was gone.

Miko pulled a face behind his back while Five ran a hand through his curls. ‘That makes so much sense…’ he mumbled.

‘Come on Techs, I don’t have all day and I closed upstairs so we need to make it quick,’ Phil called.

The Glitch Techs bunched together, looking expectantly at Phil and BITT up on the balcony.

‘Right. Thanks everyone. First thing, our data in comparison to our neighbouring Tech teams is looking good. We’ve got the fastest catch rate in our zone, which is impressive. Joan from Dabney sent me a lovely email asking for the data to be double checked, which is a win in my book, so congrats.’

There was a smattering of applause from amongst the staff. Although they were happy to work together with the Dabney store if the occasion called for it, the friendly rivalry between teams was taken very seriously.

‘Mitch is once again on the top of the leaderboard for exp and number of glitches captured for the month, and we don’t currently have any techs under level three which means even our newest members are doing an exceptional job,’ Phil said in his manager monotone, reading notes off a tablet.

‘As you all know, the sequel to the classic Hinobi dungeon crawler, _Rogue’s Ransom_ is set to go on sale _Friday three weeks from now,_ which means all techs level four and below will up top managing the store, and all senior techs will be down here.’

‘I thought the release was delayed by a few months?’ Mitch asked, arms crossed, ever the image of aloofness.

‘They pushed to release on time,’ Five offered. ‘There was a whole article about their worker burnout.’

‘Which means the game probably isn’t as polished as it should be,’ Phil added. ‘Which means high powered glitch potential.’

Again, chatter broke out amongst the staff. _Rogue’s Ransom_ was a classic Hinobi game from one of their older consoles, and the sequel had been met with violent enthusiasm. The store would be overrun by gamers trying to get their hands on it.

‘Okay, calm down. Talk on your own time,’ Phil called. ‘Two more things, then you can get back to whatever it was you were doing.’

He pointed a remote at the main scoreboard and it went blank. ‘Score resets for the quarter. You can find information on scores from the last quarter in the archives if you really want to, but I don’t know why you would. Since we’ve reset, we’re going to be making some changes to the teams.’

‘Mitch, you’re no longer leading Zahra and Haneesh,’ he began, and if Mitch was surprised, he didn’t react. ‘Five, you’ll be taking point for those two, we’re going to work on your leadership skills.’

Miko frowned. She was happy for Five, of course she was. He looked proud as punch standing beside her, fighting a grin. But what about her? Five was her _partner_.

‘Nix, since Simi transferred, you’re sticking with Bergy as a duo. I’ll discuss options with you later on, so remind me to do that.’

‘I will also remind you,’ BITT chipped in, blinking his big digital eyes at the tech.

‘Mitch, you’re pairing with Miko as a duo. The two of you are great techs but you need to learn to work together,’ Phil added quickly, like ripping off a bandaid.

‘I’m sorry, there’s gotta be some mistake,’ Miko said, her voice shaking. ‘We’re going to _kill_ each other.’

‘Murder is illegal,’ Phil deadpanned. ‘It’s on the board. Can’t change it til next quarter.’

Miko spluttered, turning to Mitch. ‘Don’t you have something to say about this?’ she asked, gesturing wildly at the board. ‘Surely you’re not happy.’

‘Phil’s right,’ Mitch replied, deliberately not making eye contact with her. ‘It’s on the board. Can’t be changed til next quarter.’

Then, the jerk had the _audacity_ to smirk at her. ‘Deal with it, blueberry. Maybe you’ll learn something.’

‘You two finished?’ Phil asked. ‘I mean, the rest of us have things to do.’

Miko skulked back to Five, and he put an arm around her shoulders. ‘It’s not that bad. You’ll be able to kick his butt daily now,’ he whispered, and she grinned in response.

‘Right, I’m going to be unavailable for the rest of today, probably,’ Phil started, holding out a hand. BITT appeared holding a box. ‘Miko, Hinobi Corporate has taken notice of your potential, and they’ve sent these to you as a reward for your hard work. Congratulations.’

The Bot zipped down to hand-deliver the box, and Miko opened it immediately. Inside was a Hinobi earpiece, the kind that would house their scanner glasses. Curious, she replaced her standard-issue piece with the new one and activated the lens.

Instead of the classic green-blue scanner, this one was tinted pink. It flashed a message before her eyes, letting her know that it was booting up its start processes.

h e l l o M E – K O

w e l c o m e t o H R O

t h e i n f o r m a t i o n i n t h i s h e a d s e t i s

C L A S S I F I E D

s h a r i n g i n f o r m a t i o n w i t h u n a u t h o r i s e d p e r s o n n e l w i l l r e s u l t i n   
m e m o r y e r a s u r e

g o o d l u c k

Miko blinked at the message displayed on her scanner until it faded. Huh. Nifty.

‘Cool, thanks Phil,’ she said, looking around the room to see if the scanner picked up anything new. It gave a little ping as she looked over at Mitch’s general direction; picking up _his_ rose-tinted scanner, she realised. A tiny arrow appeared right above Mitch’s head on the display – when she looked away, it moved around the corners of the lens. She’d always know where Mitch was with these.

He was staring at her, and she couldn’t tell if he was scared, or if he was furious, or if it was a combo of both. Either way, his hands were balled into fists, and he was shaking.

‘If no one has any more to add to this meeting, I believe Mitch Williams is due to yell at me for the next few hours. Call BITT if you need anything.’

‘You can bet your beard I’m going to yell,’ Mitch snapped. ‘What the hell is this? That’s not the deal!’

‘Thanks everyone, as you were,’ Phil called, exiting the balcony via portal. ‘Office, Mitch.’

Mitch Williams practically ran after their manager, his expletives cut off as the portal closed behind them.

‘He always said it was a limited upgrade,’ Zahra said by way of greeting. ‘It’s super cool that corporate noticed you!’

Miko beamed up at her. ‘Thanks Zahra! And you get to team up with Five now!’

Zahra nodded with an awkward little smile on her face. Five scratched the back of his head.

‘I promise I won’t run your team into the ground,’ he said with a sheepish laugh. Haneesh patted him on the back, nearly buckling Five’s skinny legs.

‘You’ll be fine. And hey, it means that Phil trusts you to take on leadership later on which is really cool!’

Five beamed even harder than before, if it was possible - brighter than the purest ray of sunshine.

Miko stepped back and let Five talk to his new teammates. A little ball of anxiety wormed its way into her tummy at the thought of _her_ new teammate. Not that she was particularly worried about Mitch stealing her xp or calling her rude names – that was just Mitch in general. But she and Five had worked well together. They’d had _fun._ The last thing Miko wanted was for work to feel like… well. Work.

‘You okay Miko?’

She spun to see Bergy offering her a smile. ‘Hey! Yes! I’m fine!’

‘I’m sorry you’re stuck with Mitch.’ Bergy looked up to where Phil’s office would be. ‘But you know, maybe Phil paired you together because you can keep up with him?’

Miko grinned. ‘Maybe Phil needs someone to knock him down a few steps.’

‘Or maybe it’s because you’re insanely likeable and he wants Mitch to learn some humanity?’ Zahra offered from behind them, hiding a laugh behind her hand. ‘You can only be good for him, Miko.’

So she was just a _punishment_ for Mitch? Because he’d been such a piece of garbage, he’d been saddled with her? Maybe she’d have to talk to Phil.

‘I’m gonna go find Phil… I think this is a mistake,’ she said.

Bergy did a funny little dance on the spot. ‘You can come and join me and Nix!’ he said with a laugh. ‘That way we’d have a full team! And Mitch can just go off and do whatever it is he wants to do!’

Miko patted Bergy on the shoulder. ‘If he lets me, I’ll definitely join your team.’

She wasn’t expecting Phil to change his mind about _anything_. But it was worth a shot. The portal spat her back out in the locker room, and she made a beeline right for Phil’s office. Even at the other end of the hallway, she could hear Mitch yelling his over-gelled head off.

_-and I don’t know how you could let this happen, you know the girl, she can’t do it, it’s not fair-’_

_‘Mitch, you need to calm down. Honestly, you’re acting like a child.’_

_'Phil, are you even comprehending in your tiny brain-‘_

_‘Dude, you can be as pissed as you want, I’m still your boss-‘_

_‘She’s not HRO material! She won’t be able to handle it!’_

Miko scowled, leaning against the door to hear what they were saying. How dare they discuss what she could and couldn’t handle without her even there. With a growl, she shoved the door open, ready to give them both a piece of her mind.

‘Just who do you think you’re talking about behind their back?’ she snapped.

Mitch and Phil paused their argument to stare at her. Mitch’s hair was askew like he’d been running his hands through it or pulling it in his frustration. Phil looked as impassive as ever, but there was a slight twitch to his left eye that indicated he was pretty close to blowing up himself.

‘Don’t move,’ Phil said, holding out a hand.

Miko obliged, freezing on the spot. Mitch approached her carefully like she was a caged tiger and plucked the new headset from her ear without even making eye contact. He dropped it into a metal box bolted to the door and slammed the lid.

Phil let out a breath. ‘How much did you hear?’

‘Enough,’ she snapped. ‘You’re gonna let this jerk tell you that I can’t _handle_ being his partner? Really? I could run _rings_ around this griefer!’

Mitch scoffed, but Phil held up a hand. ‘Sit down, Miko, we’ll give you an update.’

‘Now?’ Mitch asked, his voice cracking. ‘We’re not even going to talk about this?’

‘ _We_ are talking about it,’ Phil said, gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk. ‘Are you going to join us, or do you have more important places to be?’

Mitch huffed, but fell into the chair, crossing one long leg over the other, and crossing his arms for good measure. Without his headset – and Miko couldn’t remember ever seeing him without it – his hair still had an indent where it would sit. He looked like there were a million places he’d rather be.

Pushing down the arguments she’d prepared on the way up, Miko sat down beside Mitch, tucking her hands under her thighs to keep from fidgeting.

‘What’s going on?’ she asked, concern rising in her throat. Had she done something wrong?

‘First things first, that fancy corporate headset? Has to go in the box whenever you’re in here. No exceptions,’ Phil started, leaning back in his chair. ‘It records everything you see and hear when activated and I’m not taking chances.’

‘It records everything?’ Miko repeated with a frown. ‘Why? Our gauntlets already do that.’

‘The gauntlet recordings are a safety measure in case they get lost or stolen. They can only be accessed from the gauntlet and aren’t backed up in any way,’ Phil explained. ‘The rose scanner will record everything and send a live feed directly to corporate. Like I said. They’ve noticed your potential. And they want to keep monitoring your potential. Every minute you’re active. Even if the lenses are away, if the headset is on your head, they’re getting feed.’

‘And they’ve been recording Mitch too?’ Miko asked, leaning forward.

‘For _over a year_ ,’ he snapped in reply. ‘And I don’t need any _competition_.’

‘Competition for what?’ Miko asked, throwing her hands in the air. ‘More gear? I don’t care if corporate notices me, I just want to do my job.’

Mitch snorted.

‘Oh yeah, they’ll love you,’ Phil muttered, checking something on his computer. ‘There is a glitch signature down by the old school building. I’ve just assigned it to the two of you.’

Their gauntlet bracelets pinged in sync as the mission was claimed by their new team.

‘Go take it down, learn to work together, remember corporate is watching _everything_ , Miko. Any questions?’

‘Yeah I got one,’ Mitch asked. ‘When are you gonna tell her the rest?’

‘Oh, I’m not going to,’ Phil said, a spark of mischief in his eyes. ‘That’s on you. Better start learning how to be a good partner, Mitch. Now get out of my office and do your job.’


	2. Partnered

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I've already gotten so much lovely feedback for chapter one so obviously I hyperfixated on chapter two, because Sweet ValidationTM.  
> Let's kick things up a notch! There is some uh, colourful language in this chapter!  
> As always, a huge thank you to Su for being a wonderful human xo

**CHAPTER TWO: PARTNERED**

Miko kept her new headset deactivated while she waited outside Phil’s office for Mitch. The glitch they’d been assigned wasn’t overly dangerous – yet – so they weren’t in a rush. She turned the piece over in her hands: it looked and felt exactly the same as her other one, save for the rose-coloured lens. Could Hinobi Corporate really be watching everything she did? Why would they be interested in _her_ of all people?

She lifted the headset to put it back on, but a hand on her wrist stopped the process.

‘Before you put that on,’ Mitch said, holding up his own. ‘Don’t mention you can’t be reset while wearing it. Because Corporate can’t know that. They’ll come down on you hard and it won’t be pretty.’

Miko wrenched her wrist out of his hand. ‘What do you care what Corporate does or doesn’t do to me?’

‘I don’t,’ Mitch scoffed. ‘I care because it means all _my_ hard work comes undone.’

The blonde stalked off down the hallway, fishing his van keys from his jacket pocket. ‘Are you coming, or not?’ he called.

Miko huffed and followed him out to the van.

‘Are you riding _in_ the van, or on the roof or something?’ he asked, leaning out of the window.

‘You don’t have to be so rude. I don’t like this any more than you do,’ Miko grumbled, sliding into the passenger seat and putting on her headset.

‘Just remember that _tip_ I gave you,’ Mitch said, activating his own lens. ‘And you’ll be fine.’

Miko didn’t say anything, especially with the knowledge that Corporate was watching the live feed of her scanner. Even though she thought he was a rude jerk, she had a feeling he was right to warn her. There was more to the story that she didn’t know yet.

‘Right,’ she conceded. She’d grill him later. Probably. If she had the energy after working with him for a whole day. ‘What’s the mission.’

‘Super simple glitch from your favourite game: Castle of the Dead – should go down pretty easily.’

‘So how do you want to do this?’ Miko asked, putting her feet up on the dashboard of the van. Technically it was a team van, so it was 50% hers and she could put her feet up if she wanted to. ‘I’m assuming you’re taking point?’

‘Obviously,’

‘So what do you want _me_ to do?’ Miko asked, flicking through her gauntlet in preparation for any questions.

Mitch quirked an eyebrow. ‘Stay out of my way?’

‘Nuh-uh, it doesn’t work like that anymore,’ she snapped, sitting up straighter. ‘I know you’re used to being the dingleberry in charge, and that’s fine. You can be in charge, I don’t care. But you’re not leaving me in the van like some kind of toddler.’

Mitch pointedly ignored her, which only fuelled her frustrations.

‘I got given these stupid glasses for a reason and I don’t care if you’re a jealous baby, I’m going to keep doing my job.’

Judging by Mitch’s face, she’d hit a nerve. ‘You think I’m _jealous_ of some noob? Don’t be ridiculous. I’m Mitch Williams, I work alone, always have, always will.’

‘Newsflash, hair gel,’ Miko snarled. ‘You’ve never been alone. You had Zahra and Haneesh backing you, and before that you had siblings, and now you’re stuck with me. So just suck it up you useless griefer and don’t be so _difficult_.’

Mitch pursed his lips and said nothing, merely scowling at the road as they made their way through the Bailley streets. The glitch signature was relatively close, so they didn’t need a portal, but it meant that her partner’s silent fuming was all the more obvious.

Miko cursed the gods – this job had always been too good to be true. And now she was stuck with Mitch Williams for a partner, while Five got to go on and be an awesome team leader without her.

‘-listening? Miko?’

‘What?’

‘I _said_ ,’ Mitch huffed, pointing at the map. They were only a minute or two from the site. ‘Can you take tank and draw attention while I work out how to take it down?’

Miko blinked at him. ‘You want me to sit and take damage while you analyse the situation? Seriously?’

‘I just want you to be your usual, annoying self, and keep it busy. With the rose glasses, scanning it will take a few seconds, so we’ll be done in under two minutes. There’s not even any point in coming up with a plan.’

‘So, you’re giving me a stupid job just to shut me up?’

‘Basically.’

‘Aww Mitch, you do care,’ she deadpanned, swiping her lenses open. It still surprised her to see everything tinted pink. This time they pinged because of close proximity with Mitch and his rose glasses, giving her that tiny arrow pointing in his direction.

‘That’s new,’ he mumbled under his breath. ‘Alright blueberry. Let’s get this over with.’ 

Miko frowned. ‘Is it really that hard to work with another person?’

‘I’m not planning on carrying you any more than I have to. Glitch spotted, let’s go.’

The van screeched to a halt and Mitch was out the door so fast Miko was amazed he’d had time to turn the key in the ignition. Pushing her issues with Mitch to the back of her mind, Miko set her new scanner on the glitch.

It took the shape of a dark knight on a tall black horse, draped in medieval banners and trailing smoky tendrils. In one hand it carried a bloody halberd, and the other hand crackled with a ball of glowing green energy.

Her scanner immediately went to work; in the corner of her vision the knight’s stats appeared one by one. _Nightmare Knight, Castle of the Dead, Hinobi Console vIX, HP, Magic Type, Spells –_ the list went on.

‘Don’t just stare at it!’ Mitch snapped, bringing up his shield. ‘It’s going to start spewing-‘

Almost like Mitch had reminded it, the Knight jammed its heels into the horse and charged them, glowing green energy surrounding its sword.

‘Necromancy?’ she confirmed, sliding to her knees just in time to avoid losing her head. With a flick of her wrist, Miko brought up her shield. ‘I thought you said this would be easy!’

‘It will be. Now get in there and distract it so it doesn’t run off and behead a civilian,’ Mitch replied, flicking through his endless arsenal of weaponry.

With a roll of her eyes, Miko summoned a one-handed sword and an armoured Ally into existence. ‘Hey girl, don’t get cleaved in half,’ she cooed, patting the bird fondly.

‘To the grave!’ the Knight snarled, its voice echoing as it lowered the halberd like a javelin.

Miko climbed onto Ally’s back and brandished her sword. ‘Bring it on, tin man,’ she called. 

The Bravestone chicky-chum ran at the knight, unfazed as the horse picked up speed as well, in an outrageous imitation of a jousting tournament. Except if the halberd struck either of them, it would be lights out – at least until the Nightmare Knight summoned them from the grave with dark necromancy. Maybe her zombified body would manage to slug Mitch Williams in the face. 

Ally took flight at the last moment, earning a frustrated roar from the glitch. Miko managed to catch the Knight’s helmet with the end of her sword, but it didn’t faze the glitch at all.

‘Head isn’t the right spot,’ Mitch called, and Miko bared her teeth, trying to remember the game. The _Shadow Knight_ had a hitbox in his head, but the Nightmare Knight…

‘Less criticism, more analysing,’ she snapped back.

‘Oh, this is ridiculous,’ her partner muttered to himself. ‘Harpoon it is, hitbox seeking enabled and.. _._ ’

Mitch drew back his gauntlet hand like he was pulling a bowstring taut, but instead a dangerous looking harpoon materialised. ‘… _boosh.’_

He let it go, and the pointed weapon neatly pierced the chest of the horse. It kicked up on its rear legs, and the whole glitch exploded from the inside with a feral scream.

Miko ducked with a yelp as a piece of exploded armour shrapnel flew at her head.

‘Careful,’ Mitch said with a smirk, sucking the essence of the glitch back into containment. ‘Told you it would be easy.’

Miko dismissed Ally with less than a foot between herself and the ground, landing with a roll and a curse.

‘You didn’t need me to do _any_ of that,’ she huffed, flicking her hair off her face and resting her sword on her shoulder.

‘I already told you I don’t need a partner,’ he replied, flexing his fingers in the gauntlet. ‘Did the scanner give you extra information?’

All her frustration vanished in the face of a question. Well, most of it. ‘Yeah, and it was faster too.’

‘That’s the rose scanner for you,’ he said, fixing his collar. ‘Check your xp.’

‘But I didn’t catch the glitch, you did.’

Mitch rolled his eyes. ‘Well since we’re teamed up now, we share the xp. Which means you’re essentially coasting on my achievements.’

Miko lifted her chin defiantly. ‘Is this how it’s always going to be with you?’ she growled, ripping off her headset and dismissing her gauntlet. ‘Because if it is, you can just brain wipe me right now.’

Mitch also pulled off his headset, and once Corporate wasn’t spying on them, it was like a switch had been flicked. ‘Like it would work,’ he hissed. ‘This is the Mitch Williams brand, Kubota. Deal with it.’

‘The Mitch Williams brand _stinks_ ,’ she snapped. ‘You’re a damn good gamer but everything else? This _untouchable_ aura? If I have to beat it out of you, I will.’

He quirked an eyebrow at her outburst, but otherwise remained quiet. Miko had the sneaking suspicion that he was enjoying it, which only made her more upset.

‘In fact I _will_ beat it out of you,’ she snarled, shoving a pointed finger at his face. ‘Name the game, Williams, and I’ll _destroy you_.’

Mitch just snorted and put on his headset, effectively ending their little spat. She jammed hers back on as well, sticking out her tongue.

‘Do you have any more outbursts, or are we taking his glitchy lordship back to HQ?’

‘If I think of any on the way back, I’ll let you know,’ Miko grumbled, deactivating her gauntlet, and swiping her rose-tinted lenses away. She climbed into the van without another word and stuck her feet up on the desk.

The trip back to HQ was silent.

*

Miko could feel the eyes of every other Glitch Tech on her as she walked to the containment with Mitch. They wanted to know how it had gone, no doubt – wanted to see if she had anything to deposit, or if Mitch had hogged all the exp again.

She almost hung her head in shame when Mitch plugged in his gauntlet and deposited ‘their’ catch. Almost. Instead, she looked up at the board, and their team shot to the top of the board.

‘Get used to it,’ Mitch said, dismissing his gauntlet once his hand was free. ‘They’re going to hate you by association now.’

Miko’s heart sank. They were her friends, surely something as silly as being paired with Mitch wouldn’t affect her relationships with the other Techs.

‘I’ve never seen this kicked-puppy side of you,’ her partner said with a snort.

‘Yeah, it’s just the effect you have on people,’ she snapped. ‘Thanks for making the perfect job _miserable_.’

Miko turned on her heel and stalked over to where Five and Bergy were playing Sorcerer cards.

‘Hey how did you…. Oh no.’

‘I’m fine,’ Miko lied with a wave of her hand. ‘Who’s winning?’

‘Me, obviously,’ Bergy said with a toothy grin, but he put his hand down face up, forfeiting the game. ‘What happened?’

‘He’s just a jerk,’ she replied tiredly, her shoulders slumping. ‘And I don’t want you guys to hate me like you hate him.’

Five draped an arm over her shoulders and hugged her tight. ‘We’re not going to hate you,’ he assured her. ‘We don’t even hate Mitch. Well… I don’t. He’s a pain in the backside, sure. But he’s still a teammate.’

‘Every now and again he accidentally gives good advice,’ Bergy added, offering her a muesli bar from his pocket. ‘It just slips out. I think it comes from his Tweeker days. He doesn’t stream his tutorials anymore but deep down he’s still that same helpful nerd with funny hair.’

Miko remembered the passing comment on how to take down the Shadow Knight. Sure, it could come across as Mitch lording it over them, but it would let them pass the level in the game as well.

‘Don’t worry about it, Meeks,’ Five added affectionately, squeezing her shoulders tight. ‘You’ll settle into a rhythm. You just gotta get through the bumpy part and then he’ll get tired of keeping up this façade.’

‘Thanks guys,’ Miko said, leaning against Five’s shoulder. ‘It wasn’t that bad, but I don’t think I’ve seen the worst of Mitch Williams.’

‘If anyone can handle it, it’s you,’ Bergy said with a reassuring thumbs up. ‘Now come on, I added _abjuration_ spells to my swamp deck and I’m pretty sure I’m unbeatable, do you have your own deck?’

Miko slipped off the chair and sat cross legged on the floor, slipping her thunder deck out of her pocket. ‘Bring it on Dark Christa.’

Bergy beamed and started shuffling his cards.

*

For two weeks, Miko turned up to work and fought with Mitch. On multiple levels. For two weeks, she and her partner butted heads, called each other names, fought to capture glitches and generally just spat fire. Even Five was sick of it, but Miko wouldn’t be beaten down by Mitch Williams of all people. From the top of his carefully styled hair to the soles of his exclusive Hinobi kicks, the guy was nothing but stubbornness and sass and she was ready to crush it out of him.

At first it had worn her down – the first week working together had exhausted her and she’d been ready to pack it in. But a weekend of bad food and worse movies with Five had renewed her energy, and Miko was ready to start pushing back. Her friend had told her all about working with Zahra and Haneesh, learning their strengths and building strategies on the fly, and she wished to the gaming gods everywhere that she’d have something like that next quarter.

It wasn’t fair that everyone got to have fun at their job, while she had to actually work.

‘Good morning Mitchell,’ she greeted, sliding into the passenger seat of their van. She’d learned that being chirpy in the mornings was a guaranteed way to irritate him.

‘Is it?’ he deadpanned in reply, bringing up the map. On slow days like today, they’d just drive around Bailley awkwardly, hoping that a glitch would turn up and save them from each other’s company.

They drove in circles for an hour or so, Miko chattering away while flicking through the gauntlet power up trees. She had no idea how Mitch had distributed his stats, so their current skill trees could be totally incompatible, but he refused to talk to her about anything.

‘-and then it turned out that _Lexi_ ate the last of the cereal, but Nica used the last of the milk in her coffee. I don’t understand why she drinks coffee since it just tastes like burnt paper, but I digress. That’s why I’m particularly _moody_ today, because I have not had a healthy breakfast. My mum has promised that I’ll-’ 

‘If we stop for food will you stop talking?’ Mitch muttered, pulling up to a drive-through coffee place. ‘Chai latte please, and whatever she wants,’ he added for the box, activating his gauntlet.

‘You’re really going to use the mind wipe to get free stuff?’ Miko asked, incredulous. ‘Right in front of me?’

Mitch’s head fell back against the headrest. ‘You’re impossible. Just tell them what you want.’

‘You’re a jerk,’ Miko muttered. ‘A raspberry white chocolate muffin please!’

Despite the animosity in the van, Mitch did lean across the car to fish his wallet out of the glovebox. He paid with a reluctant grimace and sipped at the coffee as they patrolled the town.

Miko picked at the muffin with her fingers, trying to keep the crumbs contained in the wrapper. She sighed.

‘Hey, Mitch-’

‘ **_Alert; Glitch Signature detected._ **’

The map on their dashboard beeped in alarm, showing a signature about five minutes from their location. It was a high level glitch – difficult, but hopefully doable for the two of them. Mitch accepted it without even looking and slammed his foot down on the accelerator.

‘Readout,’ he demanded, swiping his lenses across his face.

‘Level twelve, game unknown, running around on a property on the highway.’

‘Witnesses?’

‘Doesn’t say,’ Miko muttered. ‘Might need to reach out to the others to help.’

Mitch scoffed, sending the van around a corner a bit harsher than necessary. ‘And give up the sweet, sweet xp? Not bloody likely.’

‘It’s a high-level glitch,’ Miko pointed out. ‘It should be around… oh… nerds.’

The glitch was huge. An enormous bipedal machine with glowing red eyes was lurking in the field; it had guns on it’s back, around it’s maw, and a thick tail.

‘Boosh,’ Mitch muttered, a level of appreciative awe in his voice.

Trying to ignore her shaking fingers, Miko activated her rose-tinted lenses. Immediately, the small white arrow appeared, telling her where Mitch was located. Then, the lenses scanned the glitch.

‘Thunderjaw from Horizon: Zero Dawn, Combat class, 6500 hp, in-game challenge rating 27, glitch level twelve – Mitch we can’t do this on our own,’ Miko pressed as the van came to a halt. ‘I’m calling for backup.’

‘We don’t need backup,’ Mitch replied, slamming the van door. ‘I’ve got this.’ 

The sound alerted the Thunderjaw and it trained glowing red eyes on them, letting out a mechanic snarl. Miko ducked behind the van for a moment, sending an SOS to any Techs in the area. Then she activated her shield and turned to face the creature.

She was just in time to see Mitch hunker down behind his shield as golden lasers burst from the mech’s jaws.

‘You okay?’ she yelled, but Mitch ignored her, dropping his shield and summoning a huge shoulder mounted gun.

‘Eat this,’ he said with a grin, firing off three shots. The recoil had him sliding back in the dirt, and Miko watched the rounds crash one by one into the Thunderjaw’s neck, side, and thigh. It snarled in frustration, whipping its tail back and forth like a caged tiger. As Mitch pulled the trigger for a fourth time, the glitch decided to return fire from a mounted gun on its back.

A disc shot forward, and Miko managed to drop to her knees in front of her stupid partner, holding up her shield. She slid backwards into Mitch, her knees cut up from the force and her shield flickering as it absorbed most of the blow. They both coughed as dust clouded up around them.

‘What are you doing?’ Mitch asked, his weapon dematerialising.

‘Saving your hide,’ she snapped back.

Heavy footfalls signified that the Thunderjaw was on the move, but they couldn’t see yet. The only thing on her scanner was the blinking white arrow that just said ‘M.W’. It was trying to find the glitch, her auto-lock beeping a warning to let her know that it hadn’t found anything to auto-lock on to.

'I was fine,’ Mitch muttered, flicking through his gauntlet, and summoning his own shield into existence. ‘I don’t need a rookie to save me.’

‘And I don’t need a dead partner,’ Miko snapped. ‘Just let me _help_ , this would all be over so much faster if we work together.’

As the dust cleared, the two of them realised that they couldn’t hear the ground-shaking steps of the glitch they were meant to be hunting. Instinctively they moved to a back-to-back position – and simultaneously their scanners beeped as they locked on.

The Thunderjaw was staring at them, much closer than it had been before it had fired rounds at them. Despite being a machine, it’s eyes were focused and intelligent, almost like it was assessing them.

‘What do we-’

With speed that didn’t seem possible, the Thunderjaw spun around, the weighted end of its tail coming right for them.

Miko had never been hit by a truck before, but this felt like being hit by a truck. Followed by ten more trucks. The tail collided with her shield and shattered it, sending her careening into Mitch’s side and the two of them flying across the field. 

*

Mitch Williams could do everything on his own. Everything except take down a level twelve glitch with a rookie partner, apparently. Miko was laying across him, completely out of it. Her eyes were closed, but she was still breathing at least, each breath harsh and rattling. She wasn’t moving, which meant he was trapped.

‘Miko,’ he said, tapping her on the cheek. ‘Miko wake up.’

No response. An unfamiliar feeling of panic rose in his throat. Phil would _kill_ him if he’d got Miko hurt.

‘Come on newbie,’ he said, reluctant to move her in case she was really hurt. She didn’t respond and Mitch let out a frustrated growl. He tapped his gauntlet – the tail strike had drained its battery severely. He had enough juice for comms, or shield, but not both.

‘This is Mitch Williams, we have a Tech Down, level twelve glitch, immediate backup and medical requested.’

‘This is BITT, there are two teams on standby. Will you require more assistance?’

‘Medical, BITT, we need medical,’ Mitch snapped.

‘Understood. Med team is on route.’

Mitch closed the communication to conserve battery and tried to sit up; it was difficult with the rookie laying across his lap. His gauntlet hand was shooting sharp pains up his arm - he didn’t bother examining it just yet. He could deal with it later. The Thunderjaw was still prowling, and his glasses had locked on to its main body.

‘Miko,’ he repeated, at a loss for once. She still didn’t reply.

‘ _Mitch, this is Simi. We’re close by, do you need help?_ ’

'Sending coordinates and stats, medical is on the way.’

‘ _That bad?’_

‘That bad.’

The Thunderjaw roared in the distance, every footfall making the ground shake underneath them. Mitch grimaced with every step, hoping that it kept away from them. He couldn’t see the van, so they’d been thrown a fair way from where the tail smashed into them.

‘Miko you have to stay awake,’ Mitch ordered. ‘If you die on me, I will kill you. And Phil will kill _me_.’

Her gauntlet was cracked and sparking with pink electricity, the screen black. A beep from his scanner alerted him to the Thunderjaw coming closer. 

‘Shit,’ Mitch muttered. ‘Okay, Simi’s a minute or two away.’ He wasn’t sure if he was reassuring her, or himself, but the rookie didn’t answer him. She’d been unconscious for just under a minute and panic set in.

Gently wiggling his legs out from underneath Miko, Mitch pulled off her headset, then deactivated his gauntlet. He lifted Miko’s chin and pinched her nose, pressing his mouth to hers and breathing deep into her lungs.

Ignoring the pain in his hand, Mitch started CPR compressions.

The rumbling steps of the Thunderjaw got closer. The sound of its weapon priming filled him with anxiety, and he considered using the last of his gauntlet’s energy to summon his shield, but ultimately deciding that it was more important to keep Miko breathing

The appearance of two Hinobi vans was a huge relief. He wasn’t used to being bailed out, but then, he wasn’t used to having a stupid shadow that didn’t know he could handle himself.

Simi and the Dabney team leapt out of one van and into action, while Zahra, Haneesh and Five jumped out of a second van. He waved to get their attention, ignoring the pain throbbing in his hand. Yeah, something in there was broken.

‘Miko!’

Five was racing towards them, eyes wide and brows knitted together in concern. Mitch continued compressions and prepared himself for tiny gamer rage.

‘What happened?’ Five demanded. ‘What did you do?’

‘ _That_ happened,’ Mitch snapped, jerking his head in the direction of the Thunderjaw. ‘It has a wicked tail strike, shattered both of our shields, drained our gauntlets and she’s completely out of it.’

Five circled them, concerned. ‘What do we do, oh nerds,’ he mumbled. ‘She’s really hurt.’

‘My gauntlet is useless, so I’ll do this until Medical arrives. Go help the other take down the Glitch,’ Mitch ordered. His hand was screaming in protest.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Five,’ he growled.

The younger Tech gave Miko one last look, then ran back to his team. The Thunderjaw was snarling and screaming and swinging its tail, which told Mitch that the Techs were managing on their own. Sealing his mouth to hers one more time, Mitch gave two more breaths.

‘Come on, Miko,’ he grumbled, going back to compressions.

‘Mitch!’

Relief flooded through him as he heard the voice of Dean, Hinobi’s Head Med. He was a tall, broad-shouldered guy with a scruffy half-beard, and he mostly just lounged around playing games or administering band-aids.

‘Oh beams, okay, we’re gonna swap on three, ready? One… two… three!’

Mitch fell back as Dean took over, and he was finally able to check on the Thunderjaw.

Five was directing Zahra and Haneesh while the Dabney team fought alongside them. The Med team van was coming toward them; Dean having jumped the gate while his team had to open it to drive through.

Miko let out a huge gasp, followed by a hacking cough.

‘Hey Miko, don’t move, you’re safe,’ Dean said in his soothing voice. ‘You’ve taken a hit, we’re gonna take you back to Hinobi and assess you there, okay?’

She gave a tiny nod in understanding, and Dean activated his Glitch Tech gauntlet. A sturdy stretcher appeared underneath Miko and lifted her into the air.

‘You, in,’ Dean said, snapping his fingers at Mitch.

‘No, I have to stay and help,’ Mitch replied, shucking his broken gauntlet. ‘Do you have a spare?’

‘Your partner is hurt.’

‘She’s in good hands, they need all the help they can get,’ Mitch argued, holding out his good hand. Miko would be fine – she was breathing on her own and he was still strong enough to help the others. 

Dean threw him a spare gauntlet band and Mitch loaded it up on his broken hand. His pinky and ring fingers were starting to swell and bruise, but adrenaline was racing through him. The van drove away, and Mitch jumped into the fray beside Zahra.

‘Need some help?’ he said with a smirk, slipping into the _Mitch Williams_ persona.

‘Where’s Miko?’ she asked, firing a shot from her shoulder cannon.

‘She’s stable and on her way back to HQ,’ Mitch informed them. ‘I figured I’d help.’

His replacement gauntlet gave him a brand-new shield and a tiny little laser blaster. It would have to do. 

*

They took down the Thunderjaw and earned themselves 4000 exp each, but the moment the glitch was in hand, the Bailley Techs swarmed Mitch demanding to know what had happened. The Dabney team beeped their horn as they drove off, having taken the task of erasing pesky memories of the few witnesses.

‘She’s been taken to HQ,’ Mitch said simply when Five had asked. ‘She was breathing when they loaded her up and Dean said she’d be fine.’

‘But you just had to stay and claim the exp, right?’ Five snapped, dismissing his gauntlet. ‘That’s my best friend, and you didn’t look out for her, so this is _your fault_.’

Mitch curled his lip in response. He didn’t bother mentioning that his gauntlet wasn’t synced to his profile, and therefore he wouldn’t get any exp anyway. Let Five think what he wanted.

‘What actually happened?’ Zahra asked, putting a hand on Five’s shoulder to calm him down.

‘The tail strike was too strong, shattered her shield and sent us both flying. We couldn’t see it coming because of the dust,’ Mitch replied, hiding his broken hand with the gauntlet. ‘Miko was unconscious, I called for backup and did CPR til Dean got here.’

Five’s face drained of colour. ‘I have to go make sure she’s okay,’ he declared, running for the van.

‘I’ll drive, he’s probably out of his mind with worry,’ Haneesh mentioned, jabbing a finger at Five’s retreating form. ‘Coming Zahra?’

‘I’ll drive back with Mitch, he’s hurt too,’ she replied. ‘I’ll catch you up later.’

Haneesh gave them a salute and took off after Five.

When they were alone, Zahra smacked Mitch in the head.

‘ _Ow_ , what the hell Zahra?’

‘Miko is a _level three tech_ ,’ Zahra said, hands on her hips. ‘And you, you dunderhead, are a _level eight_ tech.’

‘So?’ Mitch grumbled. ‘It’s not _my fault_ that she decided-’

‘Yes, Mitch, it is your fault,’ Zahra pointed out, moving back to his and Miko’s van. ‘She’s only ever worked with Five, and _he_ was always the one protecting _her_. How strong do you think her shield is? No wonder it gave out.’

Any excuses he had died on his tongue. He hadn’t thought about that. In fact, he had no idea where Miko had dumped _any_ of her stats.

‘It wasn’t on purpose,’ Mitch offered lamely. ‘I had the shoulder cannon and her shield held up for the first few shots.’

Zahra sighed and examined his hand. ‘You’ve gone and broken these as well,’ she offered by way of reply, pointing out his swollen fingers.

‘Yes, I worked that out on my own,’ he grumbled, slipping the gauntlet band gingerly over his hand while his old teammate found a bandage in the van’s first aid kit.

‘This is going to hurt, but it’s your own fault so don’t yell at me,’ she warned, wrapping his hand. ‘Then we’ll go check on Miko. She’s not as experienced as you, and she’s used to having a partner who watches her back. So you need to step up, or tell Phil to reassign her.’

Mitch just grit his teeth against the pain. He had no idea what Corporate was looking for in their Rose Techs, but he was sure as hell this wasn’t it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aah thank you for reading I hope it was okay. Feedback and sharing this fic is always appreciated!  
> What do you think Corporate wants with Miko and Mitch? Let me know what you think in the comments!  
> Don't forget you can bookmark this fic for emails when it updates, and you can find me on tumblr, twitter and discord!


	3. Benched

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ME-K.O: I’ve made a terrible mistake  
> HI5: lol  
> HI5: no backing out now chica

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> A super big thank you to Su for always being a treasure and listening to me scream.  
> Don't forget to jump into HINOBICORD discord server; linked with the official GlitchTechs reddit - where it is always Mitchko hours and there are sneak peeks of each chapter because I can't help myself and share the good bits.  
> Let's move this relationship from frenemies to tentative allies!

**CHAPTER THREE: BENCHED**

Luckily for Miko, the shield in her gauntlet was very well made, and it had absorbed most of the damage from the tail strike. She’d woken in the Med bay at HQ, with Dean talking to Phil, and Five fussing over her blankets. Every part of her body hurt. 

‘You’re okay!’ he cried, grabbing her hand. ‘I’m so glad you’re not dead.’

‘Of course I’m not dead,’ she replied with a grin, squeezing his fingers gently. She could move her arms and fingers so at least nothing was broken.

‘Welcome back Miko,’ Phil said, crossing his arms. ‘Glad to see you’re okay. Dean here wants you to take a week off to recover, and I’m suspending you for a week after that.’

Miko sat upright so quickly the room spun. ‘What? What do you mean suspended?’ she asked, frowning.

‘Suspended means-’

‘I know _what_ it means, Phil. What did I do to get suspended?’

‘You and your partner went into a dangerous situation with no plan, no backup, and you weren’t working together as a team. I’ve seen the footage. Mitch has been suspended for two weeks, and you get a week on top of your bedrest week,’ Phil said in his manager tone, which meant no amount of arguing would change his mind.

‘But I didn’t do anything wrong!’ Miko protested anyway. She had to try. ‘Mitch is too hard to work with!’

‘Zahra and Haneesh managed just fine. Maybe you can spend the next two weeks thinking of ways for the two of you to work together properly, because I’m not having you in here all the time.’

Dean piped up with a smile. ‘I don’t mind! I haven’t had a near-death in ages and it was good to test my skills!’

Miko wasn’t sure how to take that, but she sure as hell knew that being benched for two weeks wasn’t going to improve Mitch Williams’ attitude.

‘Want me to take you home?’ Five asked, holding out a hand. ‘We’re gonna tell your family that there was an accident with some shelves, unless you want them to know about the T-Rex Mech?’

*

Miko’s family had been predictably concerned, and she’d assured them that she didn’t need a visit to a hospital. A week of staying in bed playing video games and watching streams might be good for her. She’d been working her tail off all summer.

The day after the incident, Miko had winced with every step towards the bathroom. Lifting her shirt, she couldn’t help but be impressed with the mottled black bruises that covered her skin, dotting across her ribcage, down past her hip and her left leg. She could almost see the lines where the metal plates had been joined.

And then there was her right side, specifically her shoulder. While her landing had been cushioned by a convenient Mitch Williams, her shoulder had slammed into the ground and been torn up from the skid through the dirt. Dean had cleaned out the graze and put gauze on it, but she had to shower eventually so off it came.

Miko snapped a few close up pictures to show Five, then turned on her Shower Thoughts playlist and stepped into the steaming water. The heat stung at first, but eventually her muscles relaxed, and she took her time.

*

By day three, Miko was too bored for even the boredom dance. Apparently months of fighting real life video game villains made her usual games less fun. Or maybe it was the fact that her body wasn’t healing fast enough, and even the slightest movement made her wince.

The bruises were slowly turning yellow, and the graze on her shoulder didn’t need the gauze pad anymore. She wasn’t sure she could handle another ten days.

> **ME.K.O:** Five
> 
> **ME.K.O:** Five
> 
> **ME.K.O:** Five
> 
> **ME.K.O:** Five
> 
> **ME.K.O:** Five
> 
> **ME.K.O:** Five
> 
> **HI5:** bored?
> 
> **ME.K.O:** save me
> 
> **HI5:** working rn
> 
> **HI5:** watch furious 4
> 
> **HI5:** they were gonna speedrun atom blast
> 
> **HI5:** mitch was helping

Miko dropped her phone on her bed and huffed. Dragging her laptop closer to her, she logged into her Tweeker account. Like Five had said, the Four were speedrunning their signature game, Atom Blast.

In the sidebar, under ‘affiliated channels’ was the MitchFTW account. It wasn’t live, obviously, since Mitch was currently streaming with his siblings, but a recent upload caught her eye. Five had told her that Mitch hadn’t done a stream for years, preferring to grow his name through official competitions and directly through Hinobi.

The video was titled “ _Mitch Williams is back”_. She clicked the link. It had racked up a few thousand views already, and amassed hundreds of ‘welcome back’ comments.

‘ _Hello gaming community, this is Mitch Williams for MitchFTW. Welcome back to my channel.’_

Like the stuck-up ponce that he was, Mitch was still in his Hinobi uniform. He was leaning back in an expensive looking gaming chair.

‘ _Sorry it’s been so long. As most of you know, I started working in the Hinobi tech store, and I didn’t really have enough time to make videos anymore. But as of today… well, it’ll be a few days ago by the time I post this… I have two weeks off work. So… expect something. Or I’ll go mad with boredom. I’ll also be joining the Furious Four in a few of their streams as well. Check them out. Catch you lot later. Mitch Williams out._ ’

Miko hated to add another feather to Mitch’s cap, but she clicked the little bell next to his channel name anyway. Then she opened the current Furious Four stream and settled back into her pillows.

Mitch Williams in action with his _family_? She wasn’t passing that up.

Immediately she was assaulted by the janky music of Atom Blast, as well as the groans of mutants and the pew pew of futuristic laser blasters.

‘ _Raf, can you give the pro-gamer a heal, he’s struggling in the back there,’_ Aud called, earning a round of snickers from the siblings. Mitch’s little icon in the corner scowled, and Miko recognised that classic friendly sibling-bullying instantly.

‘ _On your left,_ ’ Mitch said, his avatar turning to take out a few mutants with quick, precise shots. He ignored their jeering with an impassive expression, but she’d spent enough time around Mitch to know that he was enjoying himself.

Miko had never played Atom Blast, but it was an old favourite of the Furious Four. She watched the entirety of their stream, and then a few other gameplay videos afterwards. As she was getting ready for bed (which involved spending at least half an hour working out if it was easier to sleep on her bruised side or grazed side), two Tweeker notifications lit up her phone.

> **Notification 10:00pm:** **_Clash of Ancients Summer Challenge: Exclusive Item & Skins!_ **
> 
> **Notification 10:08pm:** **_Furious Four: Race for the Helm – taking down MitchFTW_ **

Miko quickly swiped open her phone, her toothbrush hanging out of her mouth. Clash of Ancients was an online multiplayer where teams played as Gods from every pantheon. She’d played it a lot when it was first released, and still occasionally picked it up if she really felt like pummelling someone.

Every season brought with it a challenge; sometimes a mega boss, other times a puzzle, a battle royal, or a dungeon to clear. Turned out it was a puzzle dungeon for teams of 2-3. They had to clear five levels and a mini boss to earn the exclusive item that was Hades’ helm of invisibility. Excitement raced through her, waking her up entirely. She wanted to text Five, but he’d said he was working for his grandparents the following morning and was probably asleep.

Deciding to postpone her excitement until morning, she sent Five a quick text and crawled into bed, only just remembering her bruises as she landed on them a little too hard. Still – she had two weeks of no work and a new challenge to complete. The universe had clearly aligned for her success as one of the first 200 teams to take the helm.

*

‘Wait, what?’ Miko had to be hearing things. Surely she hadn’t just lost her partner _again_.

‘Yeah, Zahra asked if I wanted to team up with her for the Ancients challenge,’ Five said, purposefully avoiding eye contact. ‘I kinda said yes?’

‘Why would you choose Zahra over…’ Miko eyed him suspiciously. ‘Five do you _like_ Zahra?’

Five covered her mouth with his hand. ‘Shh sh sh you can’t say that, or they’ll hear you and I'll never here the end of it.’

Miko raised an eyebrow, looking over his shoulder at the taco truck.

‘Of course I like Zahra. Everyone does. The normal amount of like,’ he said, his voice cracking.

Miko shook her head. ‘Nuh uh,’ she said, muffled by her friend’s palm. She grabbed his wrist and pulled the hand away. ‘You like her so much, oh Five, that’s adorable.’

‘I’m not adorable,’ Five protested. ‘I’m mysterious and… and a catch!’

‘You’re wearing a _hairnet_ ,’ Miko grinned.

‘Safe food preparation is very attractive,’ Five countered, crossing his arms like it would end this horrible conversation.

Miko laughed and hugged her friend around the middle. ‘I’m happy for you, you big dork,’ she said. ‘I’ll forgive you for ditching me if you win the helm _and_ I get to be the best man at your wedding.’

Five made a strange yelping sound and tried to wiggle out of the hug. ‘I’m not getting married,’ he squeaked. ‘I don’t even know if she likes me back! We’re just teammates! I'm fifteen!’

‘No, no.’ She let Five go and put her hands on her hips. ‘Me and Mitch are teammates. You and Zahra are at least friends, and I’d bet my rocket boots that she likes you.’

‘You don’t have rocket boots.’

‘Irrelevant. Just don’t tell me how you beat the challenge. I need to find another team to join.’

Five grinned cheekily. ‘Ask Mitch to help you.’

‘I would rather suffer through working with Mitch Williams every day for the rest of my life than ask him for help with something,’ she replied, deadpan. ‘I’ll ask Haneesh or Bergy. Surely they play as well.’

*

Neither Haneesh nor Bergy played _Clash of Ancients_. Haneesh had apparently played with Zahra and Mitch one time and given up pretty quick, preferring console games over pc. Bergy had also played once, but it had driven his anxiety to the nope point and he refused to touch the game ever again. That left Mitch Williams, who would no doubt stream the challenge live and give her shit the whole time. 

Miko loved a challenge but she didn’t hate herself that much.

Instead, she just booted up the game on her computer. She might not have a team member, but she could at least play and get back into the swing of things. She loaded up the main screen and selected her favourite character: Ares, God of War.

Cracking her knuckles, Miko assumed her ass-kicking position, and brandished her magical glowing sword.

‘Let’s wreck some fools,’ she grinned.

Miko wrecked all the fools. And some that probably weren’t fools. And it felt so _good_. She played three rounds with Ares and then switched to a Mayan Bat God for a change of pace. It wasn’t until she’d finished her first round with Camazotz that she noticed a familiar name in her team lineup.

 **Sol, Norse Sun Goddess played by MitchFTW**.

An inhuman amount of spiteful glee raced through her as she selected the option to directly challenge Mitch. The jerk was probably prepping for the competition as well. She nearly fell off her chair reaching for her phone, and sure enough there was a notification that signified MitchFTW was streaming live.

She set the phone up at the bottom of her screen so she could watch him react while she kicked his butt. He was sitting in the same room as his last update; looking a lot more relaxed now that he wasn’t in uniform and hadn’t just been suspended from his job. He was wearing a huge pair of headphones that screamed "expensive".

‘ _ME-K.O has challenged you-_ oh did she?’ Mitch said with a smirk, leaning forward in his chair. ‘For context, ME-K.O is a pretty popular gamer, and she works with me at Hinobi. Apparently, she wants to spend her day off getting crushed.’

Miko had to stifle a snicker. She selected Ares, tucked her feet up underneath her and counted down. Mitch had chosen Sol again, and she knew that they’d be pretty-evenly matched. However, the luck of the draw landed in her lap, because her randomly generated teammates were much more balanced than his.

Her team won by a landslide. Granted, Mitch was fast, and he knew his character well. It probably didn’t help that, because he was streaming, he _said his moves ahead of time_.

‘Eat my dust, Mitchell,’ she laughed, throwing her hands in the air as the bright _Victory_ banner appeared on her screen.

‘That’s okay, Mitch fans,’ Mitch said on the stream, a muscle in his jaw twitching. ‘We’re just getting warmed up. This stream’s new title is ‘make Miko cry’… let’s see how you do against the King of the Gods.’

Miko accepted the next challenge. She’d face Zeus if it meant making Mitch ragequit in front of his fans. 

She beat Mitch four out of five rounds, and the griefer was _fuming_.

‘How are you doing this?’ he asked, glaring at the camera. Then a lightbulb went off, realisation dawning on his face as he checked the list of viewers. ‘Oh you… _she’s watching the stream_.’

Miko didn’t even bother to hide her laughter, instead sending him a grin emoji on the game’s chat.

‘You sneaky little shit,’ he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. ‘Play again, but this time without me telling you what I’m going to do and see if you win.’ 

As tempting as it was, she’d had her fun, and her mum was calling her for dinner. It would also drive him batty, she figured, so she messaged Mitch something about quitting while ahead and shut the game and the stream down. Not bad for a day’s work.

*

If Mitch was planning on getting any legitimate practice for the Helm Challenge, he sure as all heck wasn’t getting it. For three days, whether he was streaming or not, they butted heads. He’d learned from his mistake, and even though he still streamed some of their battles, he no longer blabbed all his moves to the camera. It made the game a challenge, and in the end the battles were won or lost based on how good their teammates were. Eventually she learned to read his body language instead. 

She’d also had to branch out and learn new gods, since he’d picked up all of Ares’ tricks. It made for good practice on her end, and good streaming on his. Sitting in the back of her mum’s car, Miko thought about which champion she’d choose when she got home.

Phil had summoned her to work for a meeting to “check how she was feeling” – which she was pretty sure was code for ‘yell at her about the incident with the Thunderjaw’. She wasn’t worried; they had footage of what had happened.

‘Be careful, I’ll pick you up in an hour,’ her mum said, leaning over to kiss her cheek.

‘Thanks Mama,’ Miko said with a wave, glad to be back at the store. ‘See you then!’

Zahra was at the counter when she walked in, and the taller girl gave her a gentle hug to welcome her back.

‘How bad is it?’ she asked, gesturing to her side.

Miko lifted her shirt to show off the yellowing bruises on her ribs.

‘Ouch,’ she said with a wince. Then she pointed at Miko's side. ‘Look at that, Mitch. That’s your fault.’

Miko turned to see Mitch looking at her, a coffee cup in hand. He didn’t look overly concerned, but his expression lacked its usual sneer as well.

‘Apparently,’ he replied. ‘Bet you look like an actual blueberry a few days ago.’

‘Something like that,’ Miko replied, dropping her shirt. ‘Phil wanted to see you too?’

‘I figure he wants to yell at both of us at once, two birds, one stone. You know the deal,’ he replied, sipping at his drink. ‘After you?’

Miko waved goodbye to Zahra and headed down the hallway to Phil’s office. She tried not to look back at Mitch as he followed her, but there was something different that she couldn’t place.

‘Well if it isn’t our two troublemakers,’ Phil grumbled in greeting, stepping back to allow them access to his office. ‘Miko, how’s the ribs?’

‘Not broken, very purple. Fun to touch and then also not fun to touch? It’s been a ride,’ she told him, sitting in the chair a bit more carefully than she had a few weeks ago.

‘Mitch Williams, how’s your sanity?’

‘Very funny,’ Mitch replied, dropping into the chair with a lot more grace than she had, immediately crossing one long skinny leg over the other. ‘Are you letting us come back early?’

‘Hardly,’ Phil snorted. ‘I have a message for you. HRO has reviewed the footage from the Thunderjaw incident and, well, they’re not happy.’

Mitch’s face paled.

‘What’s HRO?’ Miko asked, leaning forward.

Phil levelled Mitch with a look, and her partner at least had the good sense to look elsewhere. ‘Really? You haven’t told her anything?’

‘Didn’t have time,’ Mitch lied, as if they hadn’t been driving around Bailley in silence for weeks.

‘This is what I’m talking about. HRO wants to build a _team_. A team that can work together even if they hate each other. They won’t take you further unless you can prove that you can work with others, Mitch,’ Phil said, scratching his beard. ‘And Miko won’t suffer the effects of that like you will.’

‘I know,’ Mitch said with a sigh, his head tipping back. It was obvious these two had shared this conversation before, but Miko was only confused.

‘I’m going to show you their feedback, and then _you-_ ’ He pointed at Mitch. ‘-are going to take _her_ somewhere and tell her everything.’

Since Phil was obviously not going to explain any further, Miko just slid down in her chair while he pulled down the projector screen on the wall. The footage was shaky, but it obviously took audio and visuals from their gauntlets, their headsets and even the van, judging by some angles.

What followed was a fifteen-minute video of their fight, from the minute they’d stepped out of the van. A woman with a bored voice pointed out every tiny mistake, and how it would hinder their progress. Every excruciating detail on display for them to be ashamed of. 

> _Didn’t call for backup._
> 
> _Cocky. Relying on weaponry without having formed a solid plan._
> 
> _Casual disregard for her own safety, even if it was to protect a teammate._
> 
> _Bickering during a fight._
> 
> _Stats poorly blocked for chosen positions._

Miko winced at the sight of the tail slamming into her side. She’d been knocked unconscious almost instantly, and she was incredibly thankful because it looked painful. Beside her, Mitch also flinched as they slammed into the ground. From here on, everything was unfamiliar to Miko.

She couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable as Mitch gave her CPR. Without that, she potentially could have been a lot worse. She didn’t even _thank_ him, even though it was his stupid fault she was in that mess to begin with.

> _Promising notes include immediate medical aid, an innate sense to protect one another, clear communication to HQ, and correctly identifying the threat, to an extent. We will continue to monitor MitchFTW and ME-K.O. In the meantime, please ensure they are aware of their shortcomings. HRO has no room for selfishness. Thank you, Philip._

‘Ouch,’ Mitch mumbled to himself, and Phil nodded in agreement.

‘Ouch,’ he repeated. ‘You are both suspended for the next week. However, in that week, I suggest you sort this nonsense out.’ The manager gestured to them both.

‘How?’ Miko asked. ‘He _hates_ me.’

‘No, he doesn’t. He’s just a git,’ Phil told her, letting the screen roll back up in the ceiling.

‘Hey!’

‘You’ve been letting your partner work with the rose headset for two weeks and she has no idea what it means, or what it could do to her life. That makes you, by definition, a git,’ the manager sighed. ‘Now look. I like you both, always have. I don’t want to see you on the wrong side of corporate. Please, for the love of all that is holy, go next door to Snake Shake, buy some food and sort your shit. Right now. I don’t care how long it takes.’ 

'Can I at least have my headset back?' Mitch asked, gesturing to Phil's desk. 

'You know I can't give it to you,' Phil muttered, sounding almost apologetic. 

‘What happens if we get on the wrong side of corporate?’ Miko asked, partially raising her hand.

‘That’s for Mitch to tell you. But this is your last chance. HRO doesn’t mess around.’

*

It felt strange to be in Snake Shake with Mitch. He was staring up at the menu while she texted her mum that she was getting a ride home. He’d offered on the walk across, not meeting her eye, and his hands shoved deep in his pockets. Since she had no idea how long they’d be, and she was meant to be making an effort to get along with him, she’d agreed.

‘Can I get cookies and cream, please?’ he asked the teenager behind the counter. ‘What do you want?’

‘I can get mine,’ she replied. ‘There’s a booth back there that’s kinda out of the way?’

She joined him a moment later with her honeycomb shake and then… silence. They must have spent a full minute not talking, sipping at their shakes and trying not to check their phones instead. How could they possibly work well together if they couldn’t even talk to each other?

‘Are you using Ares for the Helm challenge?’ Mitch asked eventually, breaking the ice with something they could both talk about: games.

‘Not sure,’ Miko replied, sitting up a little taller. ‘I thought he was pretty good, but you managed to poke a whole bunch of holes in him.’

Mitch snorted, and the smugness was back. This was good, she knew this Mitch. ‘I was learning Sol when you decided to crash my stream,’ he said, leaning back. ‘I think she’s been mastered by this point.’

‘That was so funny,’ she grinned. ‘I was waiting for you to work it out, but you had no idea. You just kept… talking.’

The barest hint of a smile ghosted his features while she laughed at him.

‘ _Thank_ you, ME-K.O. for making me look like a proper idiot in front of thousands of subscribers,’ he said, his sarcasm overshadowed by amusement.

‘Anytime,’ she grinned. ‘Anyway, are you using Sol?’

‘I’m not using anyone,’ Mitch replied. ‘ _Your_ friend stole _my_ Ancients partner.’

‘Zahra asked Five, so technically your partner stole _my_ friend,’ she pointed out. ‘So we’re both partnerless.’

‘Are you hinting that you want to ride my coattails to the Helm?’

Miko very briefly considered the consequences of admitting that she needed Mitch to get to an exclusive item, but she figured he needed her just as much. Besides, they were meant to spend the next week learning to get along and work better together – this was probably the safest option.

‘Yes,’ she said, holding out a hand. ‘Except the bit about the coattails. Working together. Like Phil said. Right?’

Mitch stared at her hand like it would bite him, but eventually took it. His hands were unusually warm, even after holding the cold milkshake cup.

‘Deal,’ he conceded.

‘And now you’re going to tell me about HRO.’

Mitch tried to pull his hand away, but she wouldn’t let him. HRO was obviously the team behind the rose scanner, which was fine, she knew that. But Phil had implied there were risks involved in working for them, as well as benefits she should know about.

‘Mitch, come on,’ she said, letting him go. ‘You owe me one.’

‘I do not-‘

‘Literal blueberry,’ she said, pointing to her side. ‘Do you need to see photos? I was _unconscious_. You had to give me _CPR,_ it was that bad.’

Mitch raised an eyebrow. ‘I thought you’d be mad about that.’

‘Mad that you kept me breathing after I lost consciousness?’ she asked flatly.

He waved a hand, searching for the right words. ‘Mad that it was… me. I got you hurt, yeah. But I had to give you mouth to mouth. It’s kinda skeevy.’

Miko flushed right to the roots of her hair, and she hated him for making her. Instead, she pointed at him with her straw. ‘Did you have any intention other than my safety?’

‘Of course not-’

‘Then I’m not mad. Let’s just drop it there.’ 

Her partner looked around the empty store then leaned forward. ‘Fine. HRO is the Hinobi Rose Operative. They’re a branch of Hinobi Corporate that deals with some of the business’ hush-hush dealings - Hinobi doesn’t just make games, remember. They’re monitoring us so that they can decide whether to promote us to Rose Agents.’

‘Why would they choose us?’ 

‘They obviously saw your potential.’ 

‘And what if we fail?’ Miko asked, excitement building in her chest. Whatever Mitch had just said, her brain had translated it immediately to ‘spies’.

‘Then Corporate wipes your memory and you go on your merry way, none the wiser,’ he explained, leaning back. ‘They sent me the scanner pretty soon after I started at Hinobi. I stopped streaming, moved away from my family, all to show them that I was committed.’

‘But Corporate can’t wipe my memory,’ she said, lowering her voice. ‘It won’t work.’

‘Which is still weird,’ Mitch told her, leaning in closer. ‘And it’s why they can’t know. Phil and I removed the knowledge from Bergy and Haneesh and Zahra, so only us and Five know. If Corporate did find out, then they’d swoop in here and take your brain for experiments or something.’

Miko frowned as she processed this new information. ‘So… they sound really shady. Why would you want to work for them?’

‘HRO is _global_. There’s only a handful of agents, they go on missions all over the world and they manage some of the biggest secrets the company has to offer,’ Mitch said, as if it was obvious. ‘Miko, they want us to get paid an exorbitant amount of money to fight top tier glitches in places that _aren’t Bailley_. Who wouldn’t want that?’

Miko watched him for a second, then it sunk in. ‘You’re planning to just… vanish. Ghost everyone. That’s why you don’t live with your family, and why you stopped streaming.’

He snorted. ‘Everyone hates me, it’s not like I’d be missed.’

‘They don’t hate you. You’re just a jerk.’

‘Right.’ 

‘Is that on purpose as well?’

‘Oh, I’m terribly sorry, you’re not high enough friend level to unlock the tragic Mitch Williams backstory,’ he said with a hand on his heart. ‘I’m done talking about it.’

She wanted to argue. Something about Mitch _always_ made her want to argue. But something inside told her to let him have this one.

‘For now,’ she agreed. ‘Are you still okay to take me home?’

‘Yeah… come on.’

*

The drive to her house was silent except for her giving him directions. She hadn’t noticed the bandage on his hand before, but he seemed to be avoiding driving with it.

‘That’s me,’ she pointed out, and he pulled up out the front. ‘Thanks for the ride.’

He shrugged by way of reply.

‘Are you playing tonight? Challenge starts tomorrow at midnight,’ she asked, closing the door behind her.

‘I’m game if you are,’ he said, leaning across the passenger seat to see her through the open window.

‘Cool.’

‘Cool.’

‘Thanks for uh… not being a jerk this afternoon?’ Miko said with a cheeky smile. It earned her a laugh.

‘For the record… I _am_ sorry you got hurt,’ he said. ‘Your bruises look gross.’

‘Thanks!’ she chirped. ‘You should see the other guy.’

Mitch just held up his bandaged hand, then sat upright in his chair again. ‘Chat later blueberry.’

She waved him off then made her way inside, all that juicy new knowledge tumbling around in her brain. 

*

> **HI5:** bro
> 
> **HI5:** I thought you didn’t wanna partner with Mitch
> 
> **HI5:**???
> 
> **ME-K.O:** well SOMEONE ditched me so had to scrape the bottom of the barrel for a partner
> 
> **HI5:** harsh
> 
> **HI5:** race you to the helm
> 
> **ME-K.O:** you’re on

*

> **Unknown Number:** hey its mitch
> 
> **ME-K.O:** how’d you get this number?
> 
> **ME-K.O:** also hi
> 
> **Mitch Williams:** texted z who texted 5
> 
> **Mitch Williams:** that ok?
> 
> **Mitch Williams:** also hi
> 
> **ME-K.O:** sure
> 
> **ME-K.O:** you want me to jump online?
> 
> **Mitch Williams:** well I’m not carrying you to the helm
> 
> **ME-K.O:** is it always going to be like this with you
> 
> **Mitch Williams:** yes
> 
> **ME-K.O:** joy

*

> **ME-K.O:** I’ve made a terrible mistake
> 
> **HI5:** lol
> 
> **HI5:** no backing out now chica

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh we know more about HRO! Are they good guys? Bad guys? What do you think??  
> Thank you so much for reading! Remember to leave kudos or a comment to let me know you liked it! You can also bookmark for an email every time we update!  
> Fun fact; I was randomly making up a game I wanted to play in Clash of Ancients and then someone told me it existed in Smite so... there's a fun new addiction. Anyway!  
> Stay safe lovelies!


	4. Co-Op

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, welcome back!  
> Thank you for reading, I hope you're enjoying this fic so far!  
> A huge thank you to Su for being a treasure and I hope you're doing okay lovely xoxo

**CHAPTER FOUR:** **_CO-OP_ **

****

Miko’s mouse hovered over the game icon. Once she opened it, Mitch Williams would be waiting for her in the lobby to run some practice runs. And from then on, everything would be different, because they’d officially be working together and not be fighting anymore. Miko didn’t know how to act around Mitch without being a jerk to him.

‘You got lag or something?’

Miko jumped, forgetting that Mitch was on the line. ‘No, no lag. Just loading up now.’

‘Right, well, we don’t have all night.’

‘We literally do,’ Miko pointed out. ‘We got suspended.’

Mitch didn’t reply, and the lobby loaded up. There was already a friend request and a game request waiting for her.

‘Okay, so I’ve been playing Aphrodite-’

Miko snorted. ‘Goddess of Love?’

‘Beauty,’ Mitch corrected her. ‘So… obviously perfect for me.’

‘If you say so,’ she replied. ‘I’m going back to Ares.’

‘What does that say about you?’

‘That I’ll crush anyone in my way, and I have a cool helmet.’

Mitch snickered, and she heard the creak of his chair as he leaned back and ran his hand through his hair. They’d decided to stick with just a voice call, for ease of communication, but it felt strange. Even though they hadn’t started playing yet, Miko could feel herself forcing down her internal monologue.

‘You’re awfully chatty,’ Mitch said sarcastically, breaking the silence. ‘It’s unnerving.’

‘What does that mean?’ she asked, frowning as the queue countdown began.

‘Chill out, jeez. You’re normally bouncing off the walls, it’s just weird that you’re being quiet,’ he replied. ‘You need to relax.’

‘It’s hard to relax,’ she confessed. ‘We don’t get along and I’m wondering if this peace is going to last.’

Mitch waited a moment, probably focusing on selecting his starting stats. ‘We’ll make a truce,’ he suggested, finally. ‘We’re going to work together to get this helm, and then we can decide if we wanna go back to being arseholes, okay?’

Miko snickered. ‘ _Arse_ holes. You funky Brit, you.’

‘ _Never_ call me a funky Brit ever again.’

He didn’t sound malicious, which made her relax a little, and the game loaded and dropped them into their home base. They gave each other a rundown of their abilities, and the countdown dropped to zero.

‘You go first, and I’ll buff you,’ Mitch said, stepping into the leadership role like he was built for it. Since it was the obvious tactic, they fell into a steady rhythm on the bottom lane, Miko doing damage while Mitch kept her health up, increased the effectiveness of her attacks and distracted enemies while she waited for her cooldown to count down.

They managed the bottom lane with relative ease, breaking through minions and enemies and towers.

‘Ult ready,’ Miko mumbled, and Mitch slammed down a booster almost instantly.

Ares slammed his shield into the ground, knocking back enemies in a shockwave, and Mitch followed up with an AOE attack to finish them off.

‘Nice!’ she hissed, advancing to the next part of the map.

‘Keep going,’ Mitch said, and his chair squeaked again.

Miko could imagine him leaning forward to see the screen better – she’d seen enough of his streams to know that’s exactly what he was doing.

‘We’ve won,’ Miko declared, spamming her main attack.

‘Not yet, nearly there,’ Mitch agreed, tapping the keys furiously.

‘Get it, get it,’ she crowed, and the enemy’s base totem crumbled under the force of their attacks.

‘Booosh,’ Mitch said with a laugh as the Victory Banner unfurled across the screen. ‘Piece of _cake_.’

‘Not bad, Williams,’ she conceded, checking both of their stats on the endgame review.

‘Not bad yourself, noob,’ he replied, but she didn’t detect any malice in his voice. Maybe this was Mitch’s way of saying she’d done a good job without actually saying it. ‘We might actually get this.’

Miko checked her phone. ‘Challenge opens at midnight, it’s nearly seven now so we’ve got some time. I’m thinking one more game, then dinner, then come back and really solidify what we’re doing.’

‘Deal. Ares again?’ Mitch asked, and the invite appeared on her screen a moment later.

‘Why not?’ she replied. ‘Still Aph?’

‘Obviously.’

‘Okay, pretty boy, let’s do this,’ she grinned, accepting the match and dropping into the team line-up screen.

Mitch made a sound that she didn’t quite catch, but then they were on the map, and there were enemies to kill and towers to destroy.

When he actually needed her to win, she found that Mitch wasn’t a bad leader. He gave clear instructions, explained his plans and sometimes talked her through his actions like he was streaming. He’d already asked to record when they started actually attempting the challenge, but while they were getting used to co-op there wasn’t any point. 

Strangely, he also _listened_ to her. She pointed out enemies, the movements of their teammates, and items that could help him out, and even though he never said anything, his character responded to her suggestions after a moment. And this was just the practice round.

Another tower came crumbling down, and they both whooped in unison.

‘Perfect run,’ he said, and she could almost hear the smug grin in his voice. ‘My brothers and sister don’t stand a _chance_.’

‘Wait, they were serious about taking you down?’ she laughed, leaving her character in the lobby and moving from her desk to her bed.

‘Dead serious,’ he said, and his icon greyed out, signalling that he was offline. ‘They’re punishing me for ditching them or something, I don’t know. But you can tackle the challenge in teams of two or three, so they decided to band together and beat me to it.’

‘And you’re saying that I’m a better teammate than the main fighting force of the Furious Four?’ she teased, biting her thumbnail to keep from laughing. ‘Mitch, I’m flattered.’

‘Don’t get your knickers in a twist,’ Mitch grumbled back. ‘I never said anything bad about you, ever.’

Miko snorted, leaning back into her pillows. ‘Should we get BITT to verify that?’

‘… no’

‘That’s what I thought. Do you want to keep the Ares/Aphrodite pairing for the challenge?’

Sounds through the phone speakers indicated that Mitch was also moving from his computer to somewhere more comfortable: a couch or a bed. Somewhere that rustled as he sat down.

‘I think at least to start off with. It’s a five-room dungeon, right? Puzzles between each room and an enemy in each one? We don’t know if the puzzles are locked to certain characters.’

As Mitch finished, Miko’s bedroom door opened and her mum peeked her head in.

‘Are you on the phone?’ she asked.

‘Just chatting to a friend,’ Miko said with a smile, the word unfamiliar on her tongue.

‘Oh, hello Five!’

Mitch made a little 'hmm?' sound, and Miko sat upright. ‘No, not Five. This is Mitch. I have _more than one friend, mum_.’

‘Oh, I’m so sorry. Hello Mitch.’

‘Hello, Mrs Kubota!’ Mitch called, sounding ever the gentleman and not at all like the rude douche she knew.

‘Hello,’ Mrs Kubota repeated with a warm smile. ‘I’m just letting you know that dinner will be ready in five minutes.’

‘Thanks, mum,’ Miko said with a wave. Her mother slipped back out of the bedroom, but the look on her mum’s face meant she was in for a grilling in front of her whole family. As soon as the door closed, she groaned. ‘She’s going to pester me now.’

‘About me?’

‘Yeah, about you,’ Miko muttered. ‘It took _weeks_ to convince her that Five wasn’t my secret boyfriend and now I’ve got to do it all again.’

‘Do you really only have _one friend_ -’ 

‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ Miko growled, recalling his words from earlier. ‘You’re not a high enough friend level to unlock the tragic Miko Kubota backstory.’

Mitch snickered again. ‘Whatever. Back on at nine?’

‘Nine, deal.’

‘Bye.’

‘See ya,’ she said, chucking her phone to the other end of her bed after hanging up. This was going to be weird. With heavy footsteps and a strong sense of foreboding, Miko descended the stairs and made her way to the dining table.

Her butt had barely touched the chair when her mum started probing.

‘So… who’s Mitch?’ she asked, resting her hands on her chin.

Her dad was looking at her expectantly as well, while Nica tried to stifle a grin in her glass of water.

‘Mitch is a… colleague,’ Miko said simply, reaching for the pepper.

‘He’s got an _accent_.’

Miko sighed. ‘Mama do we have to do this? Five is helping in the truck a bit more now that it’s getting warmer and so I’ve got a few extra shifts with Mitch instead. We’re friends. Nothing else.’

‘Sounds suspicious to me,’ Lexi offered, and Miko flicked a pea at her.

‘It’s not suspicious, there are no secrets, can we drop it?’ she grumbled.

‘Honey, there’s nothing _wrong_ with having a healthy crush on a work friend-’ her dad began, interrupted by a groan from his second daughter.

Nica was actively laughing at her now.

‘Mitch is a _friend_ , nothing more, moving on,’ she said, holding up her fork like a weapon. ‘Same as Five. Friends. Nothing to worry about. Nothing to talk about. You’ve exhausted all dialogue options.’

‘Lexi, didn’t you have your first karate class at your new level today?’ Nica asked, and Miko had never been more grateful to her older sister. With the conversation diverted, dinner continued like normal. Lexi chattered on about Nancy helping her with her form, and how her instructor was proud of her progress. Nica caught the eye of her younger sister and gave her a wink – Miko owed her big time.

*

‘No more games tonight, Miko,’ her mum said, collecting plates. ‘I know you don’t have work tomorrow, but you can’t spend all your time looking at screens, you’re going to destroy your eyesight.’

Panic bloomed in her chest. ‘Wait, but mum there’s a challenge and if I don’t join then Mitch can’t do it either.’

‘I’m sure it’ll still be there tomorrow,’ Mayumi said, kissing her daughter on the head as she passed. ‘You’re meant to be healing. Try an early night for once.’

Miko couldn’t help but growl in frustration. Her family didn’t get it – sure, the challenge would still be there tomorrow. But there was no guarantee that the Helm would still be there. Only the first 250 teams to complete the challenge would get the exclusive item and working with Mitch would be unbearable if they missed out over something as simple as a bedtime.

She raced up the stairs and pulled out her phone.

> **ME-K.O:** Houston
> 
> **ME-K.O:** we have a problem
> 
> **Mitch Williams:** what?
> 
> **ME-K.O:** parentals said no games tonight
> 
> **Mitch Williams:** so?
> 
> **Mitch Williams:** the challenge drops at midnight
> 
> **Mitch Williams:** I don’t think they’ll be awake
> 
> **ME-K.O:** you’re a bad influence
> 
> **Mitch Williams:** you didn’t know?

Staying up without parental permission meant potentially being grounded for longer, which would make her suspension worse. But then… when she was ungrounded, she’d hopefully have the Helm of Hades in her possession. As well as an improved rapport with her work partner.

> **Mitch Williams:** tell me now blueberry
> 
> **Mitch Williams:** I don’t have long to find someone else to help
> 
> **ME-K.O:** it’s fine
> 
> **ME-K.O:** I just have to be quiet.

In the end, Miko promised Lexi a week of dishes and twenty bucks not to rat her out and covered the gap at the bottom of the door with an old jumper so the light couldn’t escape.

She initiated the video call with Mitch to avoid the ringtone alerting her family that she was being sneaky. He answered almost immediately, cradling a mug in one hand and wearing an outrageously expensive-looking headset.

‘Evening,’ he greeted dryly, quirking an eyebrow.

She just waved in reply, eyes darting nervously to the door.

‘You know I’m filming this right?’ Mitch asked, not bothering to be quiet or hide his amusement at her whole situation. In fact, his gaming room was bright and set up for filming. ‘It’s going to look stupid if you don’t say _anything_.’

‘I share a room,’ she whispered with a shrug.

'What?'

'I share a room,' she repeated, a little louder.

‘Oh, you’re joking. There’s someone else there?’

‘My sister Lexi. She’s been bribed, don’t worry,’ Miko said with a wave of her hand. ‘Anyway, we’ve got an hour before the challenge opens up. Practice run?’

‘Sure. Remember we're recording for Tweeker so... speak clearly if you talk. You're still okay with that?’

Miko gave him a thumbs-up, and they started the first game.

Every man and his dog was playing _Clash of Ancients_ it seemed. Lobby queues moved quickly with the number of players available, champions that she hadn’t seen in ages were crawling out of the woodwork. The mass amount of players choosing Persephone was astounding, some theorising that the only way to get to Hades’ Helm was for his wife to collect it.

Sticking with their Ares/Aphrodite combo, Mitch and Miko fell back into an easy rhythm. Since she was trying to stay as quiet as possible, she let him call the shots and replied only with nods or a shake of her head, occasionally pointing out small details that he’d missed. It was just like when they’d played earlier, only with more tension.

The stakes were higher.

Their issues and irritating personality clash melted away in the face of a common goal, and for one moment Miko thought that, maybe, with effort, they could eventually work well together as Glitch Techs as well.

After a few wins and a few losses (that Mitch would repeatedly remind her were the fault of the other losers on their team who _clearly_ had no idea what they were doing), they took a break in preparation for the new dungeon to open.

‘Zahra says good luck and may the best team win,’ Mitch read directly from his phone at five to midnight.

‘We will,’ Miko said quietly, eyes scanning the dungeon rules.

Mitch laughed and tapped out a reply. ‘I’m getting a drink, I’ll be back before it starts,’ he promised, and disappeared from view.

Miko took the opportunity to check on her sister; Lexi was passed out, ocean sounds playing through tangled headphones. The rest of her house was quiet. She pulled on a comfy jumper and tied up her hair. The first rule of winning – comfort is key.

Mitch came back into frame and Miko couldn’t hold back a snort.

‘What?’

‘Are you wearing pyjamas?’ she asked, hiding her grin behind her hand.

Mitch scowled at her through the camera. ‘It’s late at night. What else would I be wearing?’ he muttered. ‘You think I live in my Hinobi uniform?’

‘Kinda, yeah.’

 _‘So_ sorry to shatter that illusion,’ he said with a roll of his eyes. ‘Okay, this is opening.’

He wiggled in his chair to get comfortable, and Miko brought her foot up underneath her butt so she could lean forward.

Mitch registered them as an official team, they chose their champions for the first run, and at 12:03 the dungeon opened.

He chattered as they played – the stream wasn’t live so that the dungeon wasn’t spoiled, but he’d post their winning video on his channel when the challenge was over. It was soothing, in a way, Miko thought. While he was talking about the game, he wasn’t focused on his crappy Mitch Williams brand. He was focused on winning, and to win, he needed her.

The dungeon was a simple set up; five “rooms”; enemies in each room; puzzles to unlock the entrance to the next room.

A flare of classic Mitch surfaced as the first room wiped them out cold.

‘It’s just the start,’ she said in a low voice. ‘Nothing to worry about. Heaps of time.’

They got wiped out three more times and pulled back to re-strategise. Mitch took his phone with him while he made himself another hot drink – tea, she learned – and they mused on other combinations.

‘Is it too obvious to suggest Hades and Persephone?’ he asked, propping her up against something so he could strain the teabag.

‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘Also, they released a thing early on about how using Hades wouldn’t give anyone an advantage.’

‘Hm.’ He chucked the spoon into the sink with a clatter. ‘Other gods of death?’

‘I’ve played Anubis but I’m not exactly familiar with him,’ she said, resting her chin on her hand.

‘Anubis and Hecate?’ Mitch suggested, and she nodded in agreement. 

After dying in the first room twice, eventually, the pair got used to their new characters. They were both damage dealing now, which threw their usual play style for a loop, but something was working.

The first puzzle was easy – a riddle that Mitch worked out in under a minute.

‘I didn’t know you were… you know. Smart,’ she offered.

Mitch snorted. ‘Gee, _thanks_.’

‘That came out wrong,’ Miko winced. ‘Sorry. Brain says words and processes what they mean afterwards.’

‘It’s fine. This is probably the longest we’ve spent in each other’s company without trading insults, so we were probably due for one,’ he muttered, rubbing his eye. ‘God, it’s already 2:30.’

‘What I meant was…’ Miko continued, eager to make sure he understood that she wasn’t being a jerk on purpose. ‘I didn’t know you were good at that kind of thing. Riddles and puzzles.’

‘There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Kubota,’ he said with half a smirk. 

The second room killed them both in under a minute, and Miko tugged on her hair in frustration. 

‘More tea,’ Mitch insisted, standing up and revealing his pj pants again.

‘Tea won’t help us, Mitchell,’ she muttered, trying not to laugh.

‘Tea helps everything.’

Sounded fake, but okay. 

They attempted a few more times with Anubis/Hecate, then went back to the drawing board. Every time they stopped to re-evaluate, Mitch would drag himself from his gaming chair to the kitchen for more tea. It was a miracle he hadn’t had to pee if she was being honest.

Each time he left the gaming room she got more and more glimpses of his home. It was small, and the kitchen had a wide bench in the middle. The curtains had lemons on them, which made her think he either had terrible taste, or he was renting and not allowed to change them. He had an electric kettle that lit up blue while it was boiling, and the cabinet above the sink had one plate and one bowl.

At around three-thirty in the morning, a notification appeared in the game lobby stating that the first helm had been snatched by a team. On the tiny screen of her phone, Mitch pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes.

‘Is it too late?’ she asked, chewing her thumbnail. ‘Do we need to stop and pick it up tomorrow?’

‘Absolutely not,’ he replied, muffling a yawn in his elbow. Then, like he’d just remembered she was there, he added ‘Unless you need to sleep?’

‘I’m good if you are,’ she replied. 'I do have an idea though.' 

He gestured for her to continue, leaning back in the chair and sipping his drink.

‘We go back to Ares and Aphrodite,’ she said. ‘We need a win - we know what’s coming. I say we take what we’re good at and run with it.’

Mitch considered it for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

They cleared the first two rooms without issue, knowing exactly what was coming, how to time their attacks. The two gods moved in sync, her sword smashing against their enemies and Mitch’s speed boosts keeping Ares from falling prey to the bots.

‘Wait,’ Miko hummed, charging up her ultimate.

His brows were furrowed in concentration, not frustration. The tip of his tongue was between his teeth, like he was stopping himself from saying something.

‘Now?’ he hissed.

‘Go,’ Miko said, her voice rising in volume. ‘Go go go.’

Ares shield bashed the nearest enemy, and Mitch let out a tiny _yes_ as they advanced. One of the muscles in his jaw flexed like he was trying not to grin in triumph, and Miko felt a burst of pride. If they could work like this as Techs, they’d be unstoppable.

With the last swing, the third room brightened up, indicating that they’d won.

‘Boosh,’ Mitch grinned, the tiredness ebbing from his features in the light of their win.

Miko rearranged her position in her chair, excitement making her fidgety. ‘We could win this. It’s only… oh nerds it’s quarter past 4 in the morning.’ For some reason, this made her laugh. But quietly, muffled by her hand.

Mitch laughed as well, rubbing his face with open hands. ‘Don’t tell me you wanna stop _now_ ,’ he grinned, and Miko noticed the subtle slip in his word choice that came with being tired.

‘Bring on room four,’ she replied, retying her hair. ‘What’s the puzzle.’

Like a proper nerd, Mitch worked out the puzzle quickly while Miko took a quick break to use the bathroom. When she came back she pulled on a pair of socks to warm her freezing feet and tried to get back into the same comfortable position she’d had before.

‘I can’t believe you ragged on me for wearing pyjamas,’ Mitch began, sitting happily with a new cup of tea. ‘When you have the audacity to wear _those socks_ on my stream.’

‘What’s wrong with my socks?’ Miko held up her foot to the camera. ‘They have bears on them!’

‘Are you a child?’

‘Mitch your pants are covered in tiny Millennium Falcons.’

He stuck out his bottom lip in half a pout before realising he was recording. ‘Star Wars is culture. Bears are childish.’

‘Whatever,’ she scoffed. ‘You’re just sad because you’ve got cold toes.’

He laughed but didn’t reply otherwise, instead moving them onto the fourth room. 

Rejuvenated by their win, they sliced through the enemies like a hot knife through butter. Miko kept Mitch alive while also dealing damage, and Mitch kept Miko strong while calling the shots from a better vantage point.

‘Are you still playing?’ Lexi asked, sitting up in bed and rubbing her eyes. ‘It’s five in the morning.’

‘Sorry Lex,’ Miko said, chancing a quick look over her shoulder. ‘We’re nearly done.’

Lexi slipped out of bed and wiggled her feet into her slippers, crawling onto the end of Miko’s bed so she could see better.

‘Who’s the sprog?’ Mitch asked.

‘Mitch, Lexi, Lex, Mitch Williams,’ Miko said, not tearing her eyes from the screen. ‘Lex you can watch but you have to be quiet.’

‘Okay,’ she said with a nod. 

‘How long til your shield bash is up?’ Mitch asked.

‘Uhh… 25 seconds.’

‘Too long,’ her partner grumbled. ‘Okay sit tight.’

Miko activated the skill that would give both her and Mitch a protective bubble around their characters and stabbed at one of the undead enemies.

‘Shield bash ready,’ Miko said, the moment the cooldown ended. ‘Say when.’

Mitch nodded in acknowledgement. ‘When.’

The shield bash, amplified by Aphrodite’s ability, slammed their enemies into nearby walls and pillars, stunning them. Mitch dropped his ultimate, and over half of their enemies fell. Those that remained were quickly disposed with Ares’ sword, and the room lit up.

They’d passed. One room to go.

Miko threw her hands in the air while Lexi hung off the foot of her bed, grinning.

‘That worked so well,’ Mitch grinned, his hands in his hair. ‘One room to go and then we’ve done it!’

‘And I bet my bear socks that Five and Zahra didn’t stay up to beat it,’ Miko added.

The last puzzle took Mitch and Lexi about ten minutes to decipher, and Miko made both her and her sister hot chocolates in the meantime.

The fifth room was a lot smaller than the previous ones; an actual room. Dark Grecian pillars rose high, and every step that Ares and Aphrodite took stirred up curling tendrils of grey smog. The room was very dark, lit only by a few torches on the walls, and on the opposite wall to them stood a very imposing figure.

Although he looked nothing like the Hades you could choose in the game, it was obviously him. He sat, slouched to one side and imposing, the helm sitting on the armrest with his hand on it protectively. He said nothing, didn’t move, and he summoned no minions. 

‘What now?’ Mitch asked.

‘Should I hit him?’ Miko asked. ‘I’d have to get in close.’

She moved Ares up to Hades on Mitch’s confirmation and stabbed at him. Nothing happened.

‘What the hell?’ Mitch growled, spamming his basic ranged attack. All of them moved through Hades without bothering him.

‘Figures the last room is just a pain in the butt,’ Miko said, leaning back in her chair. ‘What do we do?’

‘Keep your fluffy bear socks on, I’m working it out,’ Mitch said, examining the room.

Miko kept quiet, thinking of options when Lexi pointed over her shoulder at the screen.

‘It’s counting down,’ her sister said, and sure enough, there was a number _**28:18**_ in the corner. It ticked down in seconds, which meant they’d probably have 30 minutes total to work out the puzzle.

‘Thirty minutes… to do what?’ Mitch hissed. ‘Look around, there has to be something to interact with.’

The clock continued to count down, and Hades didn’t move no matter what they did, except to sigh a little as they passed the twenty- and ten-minute marks.

When the clock told them there were only five minutes left, Mitch curled his lip and slammed a hand down on his desk. ‘What do you want us to do? There’s nothing in here!’ he snapped. ‘If this stupid game has glitched on us I’m going to lose my mind.’

‘Calm down,’ Miko said, looking around the room for the millionth time. ‘I have a really bad idea. But it could also send us all the way back to the start.’

‘I’m open to ideas,’ Mitch said. ‘Can we do it in uh… four minutes and twelve seconds?’

‘Yeah,’ Miko said, moving Ares between Aphrodite and Hades. ‘Attack me.’

‘What?’

‘Yeah, you have to sacrifice your teammate to the underworld. So he gets something in return,’ she said.

Aphrodite took aim and sure enough, the hit reduced Ares health slightly. Hades lifted his chin from his fist curiously.

‘You worked it out,’ Mitch said. ‘But if you die, will you get the Helm?’

‘Who cares, hit me,’ Miko replied. ‘Three minutes.’

Since she wasn’t built for attacking, it took Aphrodite a while to get Ares health down, but when she struck the killing blow, Miko’s screen bled to black.

 _You have Died_ it said, like it always did when you lost.

‘It worked!’ Mitch said excitedly, standing up. ‘Miko I got the Helm!’

‘I just have the death screen,’ she grumbled.

Then, she was back in the lobby with gifts in her inbox.

_1 x Hades Helm (equippable item)._

_1 x Obal (equippable item)._

‘Did you get the Obal?’ Miko asked, and Mitch frowned in response.

‘No, just the Helm. What’s the Obal?’

‘ _Given to thee from the Lord of the Underworld, Hades, for safe passage to the mortal realm._ Equipping this item will give you one (1) chance per game to ignore death and continue playing with half health. Wicked,’ she grinned.

‘Nice!’ Mitch concurred. ‘That was fun.’

‘Yeah!’ Miko checked the time – 5:48am – and groaned. ‘We’ve been at this for literally seven hours straight. I need to sleep.’

‘Damn.’

‘Yeah. Thanks Mitch. Please don’t contact me for game help unless it’s under three hours next time,’ she laughed.

‘Yeah… sorry. Same goes. If you need someone to game with…’

‘You’re down to lose?’ she grinned.

Mitch snorted. His monitor turned off, and she could see the lines of tiredness on his face now as he stifled a yawn. ‘Don’t test me… but yeah.’

She smiled brightly at him. ‘Thanks Mitch… bye.’

‘Bye.’

She ended the call and leaned back in her chair. ‘That took so long,’ she huffed.

‘Are you going to bed now?’ Lexi asked, jumping off the bed so that Miko could climb under the covers.

‘Mhm. Night Lexi.’

‘Mum’s going to wake you up in an hour.’

‘She can try.’

*

> **HI5:** starting the helm challenge
> 
> **HI5:** can you believe 18 teams stayed up all night to complete it?
> 
> **HI5:** meeks u good?

> **HI5:** omg
> 
> **HI5:** I can’t believe you and Mitch stayed up all night for a game
> 
> **HI5:** congrats on beating it

*

Miko somehow, miraculously, got away scot-free with pulling an all-nighter to finish the Helm challenge. Her mum had let her sleep until midday and she’d just bumped around the house doing pointless things until going back to bed right after dinner.

Five and Zahra completed the challenge on day three, Zahra taking the trip to the Underworld so that Five could keep the Helm and earning herself an Obal in the process.

Mitch Williams didn’t contact her, which was fine. She didn’t know how to talk to him about things that weren’t games anyway. Not even the Rose Order.

While the notion of flitting off to random places in the world to fight top-tier glitches did appeal to her, there was something that didn’t feel right. And no amount of thinking on the subject could pinpoint exactly what it was.

Four days into her second week and Miko losing her mind. And because her gauntlet had been confiscated, she didn’t even have Ally to keep her company while her family went off and did… whatever it was that they did during the day.

Since she was home alone, she connected her phone to the Bluetooth speakers in the living room and set about making cupcakes and dancing. She was in her favourite outfit; crazy striped leggings tucked into socks with avocados on them and her favourite fluffy oversized pink jumper. She’d begged Nica to braid her hair before leaving, and she was completely feeling her own look.

Sliding around in her socks on the kitchen tiles while licking the cupcake spoon, Miko’s thoughts were as far from work, and Mitch Williams, as possible. Until there was a knock at the door, and she opened it to see him standing on her porch. He opened his mouth to say something, then took in her appearance.

‘What… are you wearing?’ he asked, with a frown.

Miko scowled. ‘Did you actually show up at my house just to insult my outfit?’ she asked, hugging her jumper closer around her.

His frown faltered, and he held up a bag with the Hinobi logo. ‘Rogue’s Ransom came out, and you didn’t pick up your pre-order. Just came by to see if you needed help with it,’ he said with a shrug.

‘Are you asking to come inside my house and play co-op with me?’ she asked, taking the bag.

Mitch shoved his hands in his pockets. ‘Look, don’t read into it. I just… I want HRO to hire me. And I can’t do that if I’m constantly bickering with you. Call it a truce.’

‘Right,’ she said, stepping back and allowing him entrance to the house. ‘Living room is to the right… I’m making cupcakes so the game will have to wait until those are done.’

‘In here?’ he asked, taking a few tentative steps to the right.

‘Come on, through here,’ she said, leading him to the kitchen. She picked up the spoon and licked the last remnants off before running it under the tap. Mitch Williams was in her kitchen, leaning on her bench and talking to her about cupcakes. Next thing, Phil would be promoting her to manager and Five would sprout wings and fly away.

‘Have you played Clash at all?’ Mitch probed, trying to keep the conversation alive.

Miko, on her tiptoes trying to reach another mixing bowl, shook her head. ‘I’ve had enough Clash for a while I think.’

He let out a short laugh in agreement. ‘That was excessive, even for me,’ he said.

‘Have your brothers and sister beaten it yet?’

‘Yeah, they managed a few hours after we did. They’re filthy about it too,’ Mitch smirked.

Miko grinned, and they fell into an amicable silence while she mixed up the icing.

‘So… I was thinking,’ Mitch began. ‘About Hinobi. We need to… recalibrate. I don’t know anything about your stats, and you don’t know mine.’

‘I did try to tell you that,’ Miko interrupted, pointing at him with the spoon.

‘I know,’ Mitch replied, scratching his chin. ‘And I didn’t listen. But Phil’s right, HRO needs a team and I am… not good at teams.’

‘I’m a much lower level than you are,’ Miko said, offering him the icing spoon. ‘My stats are pretty basic. I’m sure we can make it work. Right?’

Mitch stuck the spoon in his mouth and nodded.

The cupcakes were removed from the oven and left on a rack to cool, and Miko directed Mitch into the lounge. Rogue’s Ransom was a game that involved saving a diplomat’s beautiful daughter. Co-op was a new feature for the sequel game, and she was excited to play it.

‘Player one?’ Mitch said, offering her the controller.

‘It’s my house,’ she snorted. ‘Obviously I’m player one.’

*

Despite all talk of being a poor team player, co-op with Mitch Williams was surprisingly fun. He had a similar playstyle to her, unlike Five who was much less aggressive. He sat sideways on her couch, facing her, while she alternated between sitting and standing, depending on how intense the gameplay was. They played for two hours, then stopped to finish icing the cupcakes.

He followed her to the kitchen, listening while she chattered about the game and where she thought it was going. When she offered him a cupcake, he stared at it.

‘Is that for me?’

‘That’s why I’m holding it out for you to take?’ she told him.

Mitch peeled the paper from the bottom and nibbled the sides. Deciding he enjoyed it, he polished it off in a few bites while Miko stacked the others on tiered plates and left them on the counter.

‘This is weird,’ Mitch said eventually. ‘Is it weird? It's weird.’

‘A little,’ she agreed. ‘But it’ll get… less weird. Hopefully.’

‘Hopefully.’ He was quiet for a moment, looking around the kitchen. ‘What time does your family come home?’

‘Oh _nerds_ ,’ Miko said, checking the time on her phone. ‘You have to go, they’ll be home soon.’

Mitch smirked. ‘Still worried they’ll assume the worst?’

‘Mitch Williams if I have to hear my mother talk about your stupid accent over dinner one more time I’ll kill her and you and then myself,’ she grumbled, handing him another cupcake and grabbed his keys before pushing him towards the door.

‘Hang on- what about the game?’ he asked, spinning to face her in the doorway.

‘You can come back and play it, just… not when my mum knows we’ve been home alone all day.’

'I can't believe you think my accent is stupid-'

' _Goodbye_ , Mitchell.' She gave him one last shove out the door and lightly chucked his keys at him. 

Mitch laughed, and Miko shut the door behind him. She could hear him chuckling to himself as he stepped off the porch and made his way to his car.

Miko snuggled into her pink jumper and groaned, the back of her head hitting the wooden door.

A Mitchuation indeed. 

*

He came back the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wELL.  
> Progress! Please consider leaving a comment telling me what you thought or kudos! It lets fic writers know that we're doing well! Also come find me I'm usually bumping around Hinobicord or twitter, tumblr and insta and I will talk to you about Mitch Williams and Mitchko for days!  
> Credit for the 'If you need someone to game with' 'You're down to lose?' interaction goes to ray_.sketches on insta, whose art was posted in Glitchcord and I have permission to use the dialogue in this fic!  
> Also Happy belated Birthday to Dan Milano! I know you'll never read this but still!


	5. Recalibration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we have chapter five!   
> I just have to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who's screamed with me over this fic it means SO much and it's gotten the most amazing response and I'm honestly so so grateful for it. Every comment makes my heart sing and every time someone joins the Mitchko Squad it's like the fam is just getting bigger.  
> I promise I'll keep trying to improve.   
> Enjoy the chapter!

**CHAPTER FIVE:** **_RECALIBRATION_ **

****

Walking into Hinobi for her first shift in two weeks felt  _ monumental _ . She waved to everyone, twice to Bergy and even to customers that she knew had stupid questions.

‘I’m back!’ she declared, walking through the portal and onto the balcony.

Five accosted her immediately, throwing his arms around her.

‘It was so weird around here without you,’ he moaned, gesturing to the month’s team scores. She and Mitch were at the bottom with a poop emoji where their points should be, whereas Five, Zahra and Haneesh were at the top.

‘I missed you so much,’ she laughed, elbowing him gently in the ribs. ‘I didn’t realise how much time I spent here.’

Five slung an arm over her shoulder and steered her towards the mission board. It was still early, and it was always slower in the mornings anyway, but there were a few lower-level missions already piling up.

‘Have you seen Mitch?’ she asked, looking around.

‘Yeah, he’s in Phil’s office,’ Five explained. ‘I’m sure he’ll be down in time to snag the good missions.’

As if Five had summoned him, Mitch and Phil stepped onto the balcony above them. She met her partner’s eyes, and his steely expression faltered. Back in his Hinobi gear, Mitch was back to his rigid self, hard angles and repelling vibes. No hint of the excitement she’d seen while they were playing  _ Ancients _ or the openness she’d seen while he leaned on her kitchen bench eating a cupcake.

She huffed, blowing her fringe out of her eyes.

‘He looks mad,’ Five said teasingly. ‘Have fun!’

‘Rude,’ she shot as he darted over to Haneesh with a cackle. As Mitch got closer, she waved. ‘Good morning.’

‘Is it?’ he responded, holding out her gauntlet band and headset.

She accepted them with a sigh, slipping on the band and fixing her hair around the headset. It felt good to have it back. ‘Someone’s in a mood today.’

‘Well that  _ someone  _ just promised Phil a week of closing shifts to get access to the skill test rooms,’ Mitch grumbled. ‘So, you better be a grateful little blueberry.’

Miko frowned, shoving her phone in her back pocket. ‘Why do we need the skill test rooms?’ she asked.

The skill test rooms were, well, exactly what they sounded like. But they were also self-contained and effectively bombproof. Unless Mitch was planning on pulling out really big guns, she didn’t see the need for it.

‘Like I said, we need to reorganise our specs, and we can use the space to make sure they work.’ He looked up at the board with a scowl. ‘And  _ then  _ we can get my rightful place at the top of the board back.’

‘Maybe for the day, or the week,’ Miko pointed out, following him to the skills station. ‘But we can’t catch up for the  _ month _ . We’ve had two weeks off.’

‘Not with that attitude,’ he muttered. ‘Right, get in. Let’s recalibrate.’

The skills station was a long, rectangular room with a large holo screen by the entrance. At the opposite end was a dummy meant to represent a Glitch, the whole purpose of the room was to test new weapons or powers. Because of this, the dummy would never falter, only tell the Techs how much damage their attacks would have done.

Mitch reached across and plugged in Miko’s gauntlet as well as his own. Immediately, their skill trees lit up with different red sections indicating poorly placed stats or conflicting choices.

Miko stared at Mitch’s skill tree in awe. It was huge. He had weapons, power boosts, attack combos – everything.

‘You’re drooling,’ Mitch said, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

‘You have so much  _ stuff _ ,’ she said, eyes shining.  _ She  _ could have all this stuff.

‘I don’t use most of it,’ he said simply. ‘Anyway, we’re looking at stats first. Then gear.’

Most of Miko’s stats were well balanced. Higher attack and speed over defence or range, but since Five’s stats were balanced it rarely mattered.

Mitch’s stats were all in attack and range. He’d set up his gauntlet to hit once, hit hard, and hit from a safe distance.

‘Well this won’t do at all,’ he mumbled. Miko sat on the ground while he shuffled their stat blocks around. ‘Are you really not going to help me?’

‘You seem to know what you’re doing,’ Miko said with a yawn. ‘Feel free to explain though.’

‘Okay, well I took into account our  _ Ancients  _ playstyles. Aphrodite buffed and occasionally dealt damage and Ares tanked and dealt constant damage.’

‘You’re going to let me do all the damage?’ Miko asked, quirking an eyebrow. ‘Doesn’t that go against your weird griefer code?’

‘If I can avoid getting up close and personal with Glitches, I will,’ Mitch told her. ‘Have you seen my hair? Do you know how long it takes me to get it right?’

Miko snorted and went back to leaning against the wall. ‘So, what are you going to do?’

‘Usually, I play as a glass cannon,’ he explained. ‘Haneesh and Zahra could keep me safe while I attacked, but they were fast and there were two of them.’

Mitch actually smiled slightly, fondness creeping into his voice. ‘Zahra has this ability to leave traps all over the place and every time she upskills, they get more and more sadistic. It’s fantastic.’

‘So… you want… traps?’ Miko asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mitch rolled his eyes and offered her a hand up. He pulled her to her feet and gestured to the new skill tree.

‘You’re more comfortable being all up in glitch business, so you’re now high defence and high agility and speed. I brought down your attack and range, and I moved some of my attack points to support, which opens all-new skill trees,’ he explained. ‘Now, there are combos that will support this style but you’re not a high enough level so I sacrificed some of my exp to get you to level four-‘

‘What? Why?’ Miko asked, looking up at the shiny spinning four next to her gamertag.

‘Because I need you to be able to keep up,’ Mitch said simply. ‘Don’t worry, it didn’t make a dent in what I have.’

‘Of course it didn’t,’ Miko mumbled to herself. ‘I can get my own exp.’

‘Call it payback for the last shield stunt you pulled,’ he said, eyes focused on the screen. ‘Which I did not apologise for.’

‘Is this you apologising?’ Miko asked, grinning at him.

‘Yes. Take it or leave it.’

‘I’ll take it. You’re forgiven,’ she said. ‘So then what gear are we getting?’

Mitch smirked. ‘That’s the fun part. Take what you want,’ he said, gesturing to his side of the screen. ‘You like hammers, right?’

In the end, Miko found a two-handed warhammer buried in Mitch’s inventory and added it to her own. After disconnecting her gauntlet, Miko summoned the weapon to her hand.

It had a long, smooth handle and the end of the hammer was larger than her head, decorated with fine engravings and gold filigree. With a gleeful cackle, Miko brought the hammer down on the head of the dummy.

‘Fifty-eight damage!’ she called back to Mitch, who was watching with an amused look on his smug face.

‘Okay, wait,’ he said, flicking through his gauntlet. He flicked back his hand and a crackling ball of golden energy surged toward her. ‘Try now.’

Miko hit the dummy again, this time dealing nearly ninety damage. Grinning wildly, she spun on her heel, gripping the handle for dear life. ‘What did you do?’

‘Bull’s Strength: increases your strength and therefore damage,’ he said with a wave of his hand. ‘And that’s level one. I can sacrifice more skills to build on it-’

‘More,’ Miko demanded, excitement racing through her. ‘More  _ power _ , Mitchell!’

‘Hold your horses,’ Mitch said with a roll of his eyes and half a chuckle. He plugged his gauntlet back in and switched some skills around, ending up with a level four Bull’s Strength.

Miko bounced on her toes as she watched him work, eager to test out just how much damage she could do.

‘I’ve also picked up a Winged Shoes boost and the Turtle Shell, which will increase all team member’s defence by 25%. So… that’ll help your shield,’ he chattered.

Miko grinned slowly. ‘You’re as bad as Five,’ she accused playfully.

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘Tell me, Mitch Williams,’ she said, leaning against the wall with a smug look on her face. ‘Do you prefer calibration or button assignment?’

‘First of all,’ Mitch said, disconnecting his gauntlet. ‘Button assignment is  _ important _ . You need to pay attention to it.’

‘I knew it, you’re a total nerd-’

‘ _ Second _ of all,’ he interrupted, pointing his gauntlet directly at her. ‘A-boosh.’

The shiny golden ball passed through her, and Miko felt her body crackle with unspent energy. She summoned her new hammer in her hand and gave it a mighty swing, coming down on the head of the dummy.

**_-298hp_**

Miko threw her hands in the air. ‘Oh beans, that’s a big hit,’ she grinned, hitting a second time. The attack did the same amount of damage, and the dummy just stared at her with its dopey face.

‘Ready to test your shield?’ he said, a knowing spark in his eye.

‘How do we test the shield?’

On cue, the world's largest shoulder cannon appeared on Mitch’s shoulder. ‘You deflect this,’ he said, almost gleeful.

Miko summoned her shield; it was much larger, and diamond-shaped, glimmering faintly. On the inside, just above where her forearm was strapped to it, was a health bar. She grinned.

‘Bring it on, hair gel,’ she called, planting her feet, and hiding behind her new defence.

‘Eat this, blueberry,’ Mitch called, but she could hear the grin in his voice.

Miko squeezed her eyes and braced her shoulder against the inside of the shield. The shoulder cannon went off with a  _ boom _ , and the impact made her teeth rattle. But aside from sliding back an inch or two, she was fine.

The shield had taken a measly fifty damage out of five hundred, which impressed her since the cannon in question was capable of much more damage than her hammer.

‘Miko?’ Mitch called. ‘You good?’

‘We’re good,’ she breathed. ‘Dude, we’re so good.’

‘Probably shouldn’t be shooting you on the first day back,’ Mitch said, deactivating the weapon. ‘I also added the little… foot thing. That you and Five used.’

‘You mean parkour?’ Miko asked, coming to stand beside him.

‘The platforms, yes.’ He flicked one out to the middle of the room to demonstrate. ‘I should be able to mod them so that they seek your gauntlet signature and then you won’t step off into nothing.’

Miko blinked her big eyes up at him. ‘Oh, you  _ do _ care.’

Mitch scoffed. ‘I care about one thing, Miko. And that one thing… is my career.’

She snickered and shut down the holo-screen. ‘You’re such a liar,’ she threw over her shoulder as she left him in the bombproof box. 

*

Since they’d spent most of the morning shooting each other (or rather, Mitch shooting at Miko), all the missions on the board were taken when they approached it.

‘Slow day,’ Mitch said with a groan, putting them in the queue. If anything came up they’d automatically get it.

‘Now what?’

Mitch jerked a thumb over his shoulder to the game consoles. ‘Race you in MarioKart?’

Everyone at Hinobi was pretty evenly matched at MarioKart, and it was a fun downtime game because they could all join in and fight for ultimate bragging rights. It also got banned on a regular basis when things got a little too heated.

Miko jumped over the back of the couch and landed squarely in the middle, while Mitch walked around and perched himself as far away from her as possible, half his butt basically hanging off the edge.

‘I’m not cleaning up blood,’ Phil said dryly as he walked past. ‘Don’t kill each other.’

‘In game deaths only, chief,’ Miko said with an over the top salute.

‘Good to hear,’ their manager said.

The two raced over and over for forty-five minutes while they waited for an assignment. Bergy and Nix joined them after that, claiming that the gorgeous sunny weather outside meant that no one was inside playing games.

As Team Five also came back from their mission, the game was on the last two laps of a seven-lap race (because three laps races were for children and noobs, according to Mitch).

‘Eat dust, Kubota,’ Mitch snickered, taking her out with a shell and zooming past.

‘ _ Williams _ ,’ she growled, but she was grinning. She quickly fell back into second place, racing after him. Deciding that she wasn’t winning legally, Miko stuck her hand out and covered Mitch’s eyes.

‘Hey!’ he snapped, outraged, and immediately tried to slap her controller out of her hand while trying to see around the other.

Miko laughed, trying to drive one-handed, but it proved to be impossible. Bergy sailed past both of them for first, followed by Nix for second. Mitch came in fourth, while Miko trailed for seventh because she was laughing too hard to concentrate.

‘You cheating griefer,’ Mitch grumbled, fixing his hair. ‘Best ten out of fifteen.’

Miko grinned, snatching up her controller. ‘You’re on!’

Before Mitch could reply, the tell-tale ‘ding!’ noise that meant there was a new mission filled HQ. Mitch was on his feet and heading towards the board before Miko even had a chance to reply. She quickly passed Five her controller and jumped back over the couch, unaware of the confused look on Five’s face.

She almost dove through the van window, but Mitch threw the door open from the other side, and then they were moving through the portal. 

‘You owe me a race,’ Mitch said shortly as the van skidded to a halt.

‘If you’re that keen to lose, Williams, I’d be happy to help you out,’ Miko grinned, stepping out of the van and activating her rose-tinted lenses.

Immediately they picked up evidence of a glitch signature off to her right, and she summoned her weapon to her hand.

‘Oh, you’ve got to be joking,’ Mitch grumbled, coming to stand beside her.

The glitch was tiny. It looked like a knock off pokemon – one of the rubbish ones you got in the first ten minutes of the game, Miko thought.

‘That’s it?’ she growled, and the little creature blinked up at her.

‘Slow game day,’ Mitch muttered.

Miko slammed her hammer up and over her head with a little more force than necessary, and the glitch splattered into plixel paste.

**_+50exp!_**

‘Tomorrow,’ Mitch began, stepping into the van and looking at his reflection in the rear-view mirror. ‘We get in early, we take the biggest glitch we can-’

‘And then we  _ smash it _ ,’ Miko grinned, jumping into the passenger side.

‘Ugh, I hate summer,’ he grumbled, starting the ignition.

*

After their shifts were over, Miko and Five decided to go back to his place. They hadn’t just hung out in ages, and his Abuela had promised something tasty for dinner.

‘I bet you’ve already finished this,’ Five laughed, grabbing a controller and flopping his outrageously long body down on the couch in his room.

Miko was laying on her stomach on his bed, spamming the A button to skip through opening cutscenes. The Rogue’s Ransom II menu screen loaded quickly.

‘Yeah, me and Mitch beat it in like two days,’ she said with a wave of her hand.

‘You and Mitch?’ Five repeated, incredulous. ‘Two weeks without me and you really hung out with Mitch Williams? And both of you are still alive?’

‘Right?’ Miko laughed. ‘After we beat  _ Ancients,  _ I think we decided that if we’re stuck together for the quarter there’s no point in fighting all the time.’

Five beamed at her. ‘You’re  _ growing as a person _ ,’ he cooed. ‘I told you it’d turn out fine.’

‘Please continue to dispense wisdom, oh mighty Five.’

‘Bananas are actually not as good as people think,’ he said wisely, holding up a finger. ‘Also, Mitch Williams may be a great gamer, but High Five is a better partner.’

Miko rolled her eyes and threw popcorn at her friend’s head. The kernel got stuck in his hair, making them both erupt in laughter.

‘How’s life as a Team Leader?’ she asked, reaching for her drink.

Five exhaled dramatically. ‘It’s great, I love it. Haneesh and Zahra are super helpful when I don’t know what to do, and I’m learning how to play to our strengths.’

Miko grinned. ‘Oh yes, how  _ is  _ Zahra?’ she asked pointedly, noticing her friend’s ears turn red.

‘She’s fine,’ he replied simply, focusing on the screen.

‘Just fine?’ Miko prodded, pulling a strand of her hair across her face to make a moustache. ‘Or  _ fiiiine _ ?’

Five scratched at his neck. ‘She’s fine,’ he repeated.

‘Did something happen?’

‘No, nothing happened,’ Five said, pausing the game and putting the controller on the little table between the couch and the tv. ‘I really don’t think she uh… likes me. Like that.’

Miko lightly tossed her controller onto the bed and moved to sit beside him. He leaned his head on her shoulder, even though it probably hurt his neck given their height difference.

‘I’m pretty sure she does,’ Miko said, patting his hair. ‘How could she not! You’re adorable!’

Five laughed softly. ‘You’re just saying that.’ 

Miko gave him a light tap on the cheek. ‘Would I lie to you?’

‘Yes.’

‘How dare you.’ 

‘She gets all funny when it’s just the two of us and she’s nervous and I just feel like it’s awkward? Maybe she knows I like her? And she doesn’t want to let me down?’ he huffed, sitting upright. ‘Maybe when the next quarter rolls around they’ll demote me because my stupid lovesickness is getting in the way of the team.’

Miko took Five’s face in her hands and squished his cheeks. ‘You listen to me,’ she demanded. ‘You are mysterious! And a catch!’

Five snorted.

‘No, I’m serious,’ she said. ‘You’re the best friend anyone could ask for and I’m sure Zahra  _ does  _ like you and she’s just waiting for the right moment.’

‘You think so?’ Five asked, eyebrows raised and his words muffled due to the fact that she was still holding onto his face.

‘I  _ know  _ so, Mr Button Assignment is my third favourite step.’

‘Second.’

‘You’re  _ such  _ a nerd.’

Five gave her a big grin and slung an arm around her shoulders. ‘And you  _ love  _ me.’

*

Miko’s alarm usually went off at eight in the morning. Well, technically it was Lexi’s alarm, but it woke her up as well. If anything, they shared it.

That morning, however, her phone started vibrating at the outrageous hour of 6:45am.

‘Hello?’ she mumbled, squinting against the sun. ‘Hello?’

She peeked at the phone and learned that it wasn’t actually ringing. She did, however, have six or seven messages from one Mitch Williams.

> **Mitch Williams:** We need to be at Hinobi early
> 
> **Mitch Williams:** Or the good missions will be gone
> 
> **Mitch Williams:** do you need a lift?  
> 

> **Mitch Williams:** Kubota
> 
> **Mitch Williams:** are you asleep still?
> 
> **Mitch Williams:** wake up I’ll be there in an hour

> **ME-K.O:** kjfkjfkljfkljgrpgikodg
> 
> **ME-K.O:** rude
> 
> **Mitch Williams:** one hour

Miko growled and rolled out of her bed. She mumbled a ‘good morning’ to her dad as she passed him in the hallway then slipped into the bathroom. A hot shower woke her up… sort of. Cursing out her partner as she towel-dried her hair, the junior Tech stomped down her stairs for breakfast.

‘Why are you up already?’ her mother asked, sipping at a coffee.

‘Have to be at work early,’ she grumbled, draping her wet towel over the back of one of the chairs and pouring herself a glass of juice.

‘Oh… that’s very early,’ Mayumi said, checking her watch. ‘Do I need to drive you in?’

Miko shook her head as she shoved toast in the toaster. ‘Mitch is picking me up in half an hour or something.’

Her mum lowered her coffee cup. ‘Oh, you’re working with Mitch today?’

‘Yes,’ Miko replied simply, hopefully shutting down any further probing. ‘Please don’t embarrass me.’

‘I would never,’ Mayumi said with a smile, sipping her coffee.

Miko didn’t believe her.

At exactly 7:45, Mitch Williams’ crappy car pulled up out the front of her house. She pulled on a jacket over her uniform and slipped on her gauntlet band. 

‘Bye Mama,’ she called over her shoulder with a yawn, pulling her front door open. She nearly slammed right into Mitch, whose hand was raised to knock. ‘What are you doing!?’

‘Oh… good morning,’ he said, his voice slightly off. ‘How are you?’

‘I was going to the car, you didn’t have to come up here,’ she grumbled, her hands on her hips.

‘Oh, I know. But I saw- hello!’ Mitch immediately crouched and stuck his hand out.

Miko looked down to see their cat, Aerith, sniffing cautiously at her partner’s fingertips.

‘You came all the way up here to see the cat?’ she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

‘Hi kitty,’ Mitch cooed, scratching her ears.

Aerith was a big fluffy calico lady with wide eyes and a thick tail. She rarely spent any time around Miko since she was always fidgeting,

‘You had a cat this whole time and you didn’t tell me?’ Mitch said, glaring up at her.

Miko snorted. ‘I wasn’t aware it was such a big deal,’ she said, cocking her hip. ‘Are we leaving, or?’

‘One moment, no need to rush,’ he said, going back to Aerith and scratching her under the chin. ‘You’re  _ so  _ pretty… pretty girl.’

‘Miko? You okay?’

Mitch jumped to his feet as Mayumi appeared in the doorway. ‘Hello, Mrs Kubota,’ he said, giving her a smile so bright and genuine it startled Miko.

‘You must be Mitch,’ Mayumi said warmly. ‘Thank you for taking Miko to work today.’

‘Not a problem,’ he said, checking his gauntlet band. ‘We should probably get going, actually.’

‘Have a good day Miko,’ her mum said, kissing her lightly on the top of the head. ‘And you too Mitch. Drive safely.’

‘Thank you, Mrs Kubota!’ he said, stepping out of the way as Miko pushed past him. ‘It was nice to meet you!’

Miko grumbled on the way down to his car, while Mitch walked backwards, watching Aerith as she rolled around on the doormat, dirtying her fur.

‘I can’t believe you have a cat and you never sent me a single photo. Why do I even have your number if I don’t get cat pictures,’ Mitch huffed, sitting in the driver’s seat. 

‘Seriously?’ she replied, putting her feet up on the dashboard.

‘If we have an accident, you’re going to knee yourself to death,’ he told her, reaching across to slap her feet down.

‘Then don’t crash,’ she replied. ‘And I won’t die.’

Mitch scoffed. ‘ _ I  _ won’t crash,’ he said, smacking lightly at her ankle again. ‘I’m a good driver. Everyone else on the road is a moron, however.’

Miko put her feet down just to shut him up. ‘Why are we going in so early anyway?’ she asked, rubbing her eye.

‘So, we can get the best missions.’

‘But… but the board opens at the same time for everyone,’ she groaned. ‘I didn’t have to be up that early!’

‘You were actually still asleep?’ he laughed. ‘Lazy.’

‘How  _ lazy  _ of me, to be  _ asleep _ at a time you’re meant to be  _ sleeping _ ,’ she grumbled, crossing her arms and looking out the window.

They arrived at Hinobi nearly half an hour before the board opened, and Miko spent the time grumbling to Five via text. Other techs filed in one by one, some carrying coffee or breakfast and others chatting about random life things.

No one seemed to realise how much the world had shifted in the last hour because she was still reeling from the fact that Mitch Williams, pro-gamer and all-around douche canoe _ , turned into a bumbling cooing mess around cats. _

How did no one know this?

‘All I’m saying is,’ Mitch chattered, looking at his skill tree on his gauntlet display. ‘If you’d just thought to send photos earlier, I wouldn’t have to berate you.’

Miko’s head fell back against the couch and she groaned. ‘End me now.’

The board opened with a ‘ding!’ and both of their gauntlets buzzed, alerting them to an assigned mission.

‘Let’s go, noob,’ Mitch said with a grin. ‘We’ve got glitches to gank.’

‘Do you just spend your time coming up with weird phrases?’ Miko asked, getting to her feet and following him to the van.

Either he didn’t hear her, or he did and just ignored her anyway.

*

The glitch was properly sized for Mitch’s ego this time, Miko noted as she activated her visor.

‘Level nine, alien gunner from Galaxy Quest,’ she read.

‘Piece of cake,’ Mitch grinned, his gauntlet lighting up.

The Gunner was about as tall as a bus, on three pointed legs. It had a gun hanging from its underbelly, and a glowing red eye in the middle of the shiny metal casing. Miko summoned her hammer and Mitch fired the Bull’s Strength right at her.

‘I’ll get it into position if you want to drop in later?’ he suggested, and Miko nodded. She released Ally from the gauntlet and climbed on her back.

‘Don’t get shot,’ she said with a salute.

‘Time it right, and I won’t,’ he offered by way of reply.

Ally took to the air, but Miko was too hyped to enjoy the feeling of flying again. Normally the rushing wind against her skin would soothe her, but the Bull’s Strength made her fidgety and flighty. She might have to talk to Mitch about that. If it stayed in her system too long without release who knew what would happen.

She stayed out of range of the guns while Mitch taunted the craft into a better spot.

‘You good?’ came his voice over her comms, crackly due to the distance.

‘Ready when you are,’ she replied, prepping herself mentally. She’d be fine. It would be fine. Mitch wouldn’t let her get hurt. Right?

Mitch activated something on the ground, and the Gunner faltered in its steps. Its weapon made a sound like an old television turning off and the eye dimmed slightly.

‘M..ko ... – ats … r … cue’

Miko tapped her headset. ‘What?’

‘ _ Hammer time _ ,’ came Mitch’s voice, exasperated.

‘Oh!’

Miko patted Ally on the head and took a deep breath. Then she stepped off the bird and fell toward the ground. ‘Hammer time!’ she roared, slamming her weapon into the top of the Gunner.

The shock of impact raced up her arms and made her teeth rattle, but she’d done something at least. The casing was cracked and dented and sparking from the destroyed electronics inside. Once the rattling in her teeth stopped, Miko realised she was in a very precarious situation perched on the head of this glitch.

‘Help?’ she called, and Mitch brought up the parkour platforms for her to step down to. Ally joined them on the ground, checking to make sure her human didn’t go splat.

‘Nice hit,’ Mitch said, looking up at the glitch. It shuddered, and the glowing red eye flared to life.

‘Oh beans,’ Miko grumbled. She activated her beefy shield just in time to protect the three of them from a spray of laser bullets. ‘Now what?’

‘Keep your hair on, I’m thinking,’ Mitch replied, crouching beside her. ‘Will your dumb bird let me ride it?’

‘Ally?’ Miko asked, looking over at the chicky-chum. Ally gave her a vacant look in reply. ‘Probably?’

‘Brilliant. Keep it busy and I’ll do a loop and take it out from behind.’

Miko kept her shield at full size while Mitch climbed onto Ally’s back, and the moment she knew they were in the air she reduced it to be more handheld.

‘Over here you big dumb alien thing!’ she called, banging her hammer against the shield.

The glitch focused on her and took a shambling step forward. She’d done enough damage to cripple it, but the gun was unfortunately still operational. She’d never been shot by a glitch bullet before, but she imagined it would hurt.

Where was Mitch Williams with her bird?

‘You okay up there?’ she called, pressing the comms button on her headset.

‘Learning how to drive this thing,’ Mitch snapped back, obviously irritated with her chicky-chum.

‘Tell her she’s a good bird and give her a pat and she’ll do whatever you want,’ Miko said, ducking behind her shield to avoid another spray of bullets. ‘And do it quickly!’

‘I’m not doing that.’

‘Pretend she’s a cat,’ Miko offered with a snicker.

‘Ugh,’ Mitch growled, then he cut the comms off.

Miko snickered at the mental image of Mitch trying to woo Ally at 50 feet in the air, bracing herself against the inside of the shield.

‘Hurry up, hurry up,’ she muttered to herself. ‘Mitch!’

The sound of Mitch’s shoulder cannon priming made her sigh with relief, and she poked her head around the shield to watch him take down the glitch.

The cannon bolt went wide, burning a hole through the side of the glitch and coming right for her. Beefing up her shield to max defence, Miko braced herself for the impact.

It knocked her back a few feet and slammed the shield into her shoulder, but otherwise she stuck it out.

‘Are you okay?’ came Mitch’s voice over her comms; he sounded stressed and out of breath.

‘Fine, fine,’ she said. Her shield had taken 48% damage. ‘Take it out.’

The cannon fired one more time, this time striking true. Miko shrunk her shield and tentatively peeked around the outside just in time to see Mitch suck the glitch into his gauntlet.

‘Are you alright?’ he asked immediately. ‘Your stupid bird made me miss the shot.’

Miko waved a hand. ‘Shield held. Glitch captured. I’d say a job well done!’

She held her hand out for a fist bump, which he promptly ignored.

‘We need to do clean up now,’ he said, changing his gauntlet to memory wipe mode. ‘You run the patch and I’ll start on civilians.’

Miko just nodded, and they didn’t share another word for the rest of the mission.

*

The van pulled into the hangar at HQ with a squeak of the brakes. Mitch and Miko sat quietly – Miko felt like she should say something, but she wasn’t sure what, exactly.

Good job? Thanks for not letting me break my legs falling off the top of a glitch? What was there to say, in the end?

‘That’s disgusting.’ He said, his voice breaking the silence.

Miko looked to what he was gesturing to – Five opening the van door for Zahra.

‘It’s adorable! He likes her.’

‘Oh, I know. Everyone knows,’ Mitch said, pulling the keys from the ignition. ‘They’re not exactly subtle.’

‘They?’

‘Miko,’ Mitch said, looking at her like he was explaining something to a five-year-old. ‘There’s only one thing on this whole planet that’s bigger than Five’s crush on Zahra, and it’s  _ her _ crush on  _ him _ .’

‘Aww!’ Miko pressed her hands to her cheeks. ‘That’s so  _ cute _ .’

‘It’s sickening.’

‘Haven’t you ever had a crush?’ Miko asked, climbing out of the van.

‘No,’ he replied, locking it with a beep. ‘I don’t have time for… any of that.’

‘Sucks to be you,’ she said, patting him on the shoulder. ‘Anyway.’

Five waved to them as the van passed, and Miko waved back.

‘Hammer time worked at least,’ Mitch said, taking the conversation back to their recent fight.

‘ _ Hammer time _ ,’ she grinned. ‘I love that. We’re using it from now on.’

‘We need to upgrade our comms when we can,’ he said, opening the door and stepping back so she could go through. ‘I couldn’t hear a thing when you were flying with the dodo.’

‘Ally is  _ not  _ a dodo,’ Miko protested, but she couldn’t help but notice the banter was almost teasing.

Almost friendly.

*

Phil rarely got time to himself these days, what with running a major store and a secret underground semi-superhero agency for nerdy teens. So, these rare moments where no one had any problems, BITT was managing the Tech desk and there was an assistant manager on the floor?

Bliss.

He had every intention of making himself a coffee and heating up his danish so he could go into his office, lock the door and enjoy his soaps. And yet, for Phil, nothing ever turned out the way it should.

‘Hello Phillip.’

Narrowly avoiding spilling coffee on himself as he jumped, Phil became aware of a woman sitting on his desk. She was tall and thin and middle-aged, wearing a black pencil skirt and a Hinobi branded business shirt. Her eyes were steely grey.

‘Thorn,’ he greeted, unenthusiastically. ‘What have they done now?’

‘Improved,’ Thorn replied. ‘We’ll be monitoring them more closely in the next few weeks. But their… sabbatical… seems to have worked.’

‘Good to hear. They’re both smart,’ Phil offered, dabbing at the coffee stain on the carpet with the toe of his boot. ‘I’m sure they’ll be exactly what you’re looking for.’

‘I’m sure they will.’

Phil waited a moment for her to say anything else. ‘Is… that all? An update on my Tech’s behaviour doesn’t normally warrant a visit in person.’

‘No,’ she said, holding out a letter. ‘I came to deliver this in person. It’s about time you were invited after all.’ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OHO Hello Plot! I was wondering when you'd be making an appearance!  
> A huge thank you to Su as always for beta-ing and for everyone who yelled with me about this fic.   
> Please consider commenting or leaving kudos or sharing the fic on twitter/tumblr.  
> You can also find me on all the main socials:  
> tumblr: aaravosed/booshtechs  
> twitter: stormy_au  
> insta: stormyseawitch


	6. Teamwork

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I caved, I'm not good at double chapters I'm sorry.  
> The next one is already started though so it shouldn't be too far away!  
> Also! This fic is currently the MOST COMMENTED on fic in the GT archive, so THANK YOU SO MUCH.  
> The feedback has been amazing and I love you all.

**CHAPTER SIX:** **_TEAMWORK_ **

**~ 2 WEEKS LATER ~**

If you’d told Miko a month ago that she and Mitch would be smashing the Hinobi leaderboard, she’d have laughed in your face.

Had you added that there was the potential that they’d become almost tentative friends, she’d have you tested for some kind of serious illness, maybe one that made you say stupid things that would never happen.

And yet, she and Mitch were  _ dominating  _ the leaderboards, and she was kind of having fun doing it.

Working with Five had always been easy – he was smart, and he knew exactly how work around her impulsiveness. They were close and could often pick up on whatever plan the other was formulating. The fact that they’d started at the same time, and advanced at the same pace had only helped them grow into their positions as a duo.

But Mitch was different to Five. He was more aggressive, he took risks, and instead of working around her firecracker brain, he worked  _ with  _ it. He built plans on the fly and relied on her to keep glitches distracted while he charged up massive one-hit-KO weapons. And away from the field, he’d warmed up to her.

Slightly.

In his own way.

‘If you were going  _ any  _ slower, you’d be going backwards,’ he grumbled, gesturing for her to hurry up and get into the van.

‘Calm down,’ Miko said, leaping into her seat. ‘I was heating up my lunch.’

Mitch eyed the toasted cheese sandwich she was flailing around. ‘I can’t believe your BFF calls for backup and you still waited for food.’

Oh yeah. Five had pinged BITT for a backup request, and the helper bot had sent the two of them to assist.

‘He said they were safe and monitoring the situation,’ Miko pointed out, taking a bite out of one half of the sandwich. ‘And he’ll yell at me if I skip food.’

Mitch scoffed, blasting a portal into the garage wall and zipping through it. They burst out onto the street and made a sharp turn as BITT uploaded Team Five’s position into their GPS.

‘The first step to a productive workday is a substantial breakfast, y’know,’ she said, pointing at him with her half-eaten sandwich.

‘That is neither breakfast, nor substantial.’

‘You’re jealous.’

‘Well next time you can drive while I eat, and then we’ll be even,’ he said, activating his visor.

Miko frowned. ‘Haven’t you eaten anything?’

‘Don’t worry about it. I’ll get something on the way back.’

She fished the other half of the toastie from the paper bag in her lap and held it out for him. ‘Here,’ she said. ‘Can’t have you starvin’ on me.’

Mitch eyed the sandwich like it was poisonous, but eventually took the half she offered him. ‘Thank you,’ he said, not looking away from the road.

Miko just beamed and finished off the rest of hers. Sensing discomfort in her partner, Miko instead called Five on her comms.

‘ _ Meeks! _ ’

‘High Five!’ she cried, leaning back in her chair. ‘What’s the glitch ‘sitch, bro?’

‘ _ Level ten glitch. It’s that stupid powerline jumping superhero app that everyone’s playing _ ,’ Five explained. ‘ _ Cute on your handheld device. Unusually problematic in real life. _ ’

‘What have you done so far?’ Mitch interrupted.

‘ _Sealed it in a building._ _ Zahra and Haneesh are setting up rods for our new electro-net,’ _ Five explained, his voice rising with excitement. ‘ _ We’ve never used it before, so we wanted to give it a go. _ ’

Mitch merely nodded, but Miko noticed a muscle twitched in his jaw.

‘We’re about two minutes away, what do you need us to do?’ Miko asked.

‘ _ I’ll need one of you to help with the net, _ ’ Five said. ‘ _ But other than that, someone’s gotta keep it from escaping the building. Up to the task? _ ’

‘You bet your sweet rocket boots we are.’

‘ _ What is it with you and the rocket boots? _ ’

‘Love you byyeeeee,’ she grinned, ending the comms.

Miko immediately looked up the game that Five had mentioned for any ideas on how to beat the glitch, while her partner just drove the van in silence. She chanced a peek at him, and immediately picked up on his body language.

Mitch was a very private person, everyone knew that. At least, he was relatively private given that he was a low-tier celebrity in the city. But he was emotional, and after two weeks of working together somewhat harmoniously, Miko had begun to work out his little tells. It helped her stay clear of the few feral moods he’d had in that time.

Right now, he was stewing over some thought, a question maybe. His brows were slightly furrowed, his tongue between his teeth as he drove. Every now and again he’d tap his fingers against the steering wheel.

‘Talk,’ she said eventually. ‘What do you wanna know?’

Mitch frowned at her. ‘I don’t want to know anything.’

‘You’re pulling your thinking face.’

‘I have a thinking face?’

‘Mhm,’ she said with a nod, going back to the display on her gauntlet. ‘I was surprised to learn that you actually think sometimes.’

Mitch ignored the friendly barb, instead chewing over whatever he was thinking about for a few more seconds. ‘Do you like Five?’ he asked eventually.

She couldn’t help it – a sharp burst of laughter bubbled up and out of her mouth. ‘You mean like…  _ like-like  _ Five?’ she confirmed, wiping an imaginary tear.

‘It was just a question,’ Mitch said with a scowl, keeping his eyes on the road.

‘Five is my best friend in the whole world,’ Miko said fondly. ‘But he’s just a friend.’

‘Fair enough.’

‘Why do you ask?’ she prodded.

The van pulled up beside Team Five’s van, and Mitch turned it off. ‘Don’t read too much into it. If he and Zahra started dating and you got jealous, this team would suffer because of your… emotional attachment.’

Miko rolled her eyes. ‘Uhuh. Sure. Get your butt out of the van and remember Five’s taking point for this mission. Don’t wreck it for him.’

Mitch scowled even harder as he jogged to catch up, the two of them looking around to find the rest of the Techs.

‘There,’ Mitch pointed out, and sure enough the sound of a feral creature smashing things came from a nearby building. A community sports hall.

Five was waiting outside, pacing back and forth.

‘Where are Zahra and Haneesh?’ Mitch asked shortly.

‘Haneesh is herding civilians next door and erasing their memory, Zahra is scouting the area for other exits,’ Five reported quickly, not shying under Mitch’s bossy attitude.

Miko patted Mitch’s shoulder a little harder than necessary – he tensed briefly, then relaxed. ‘And what do you need us to do?’ she asked.

‘We wanted to test the electro-net,’ Five said. ‘I don’t think only three people can make it work, we need one for each corner. So, if one of you could take a corner, while the other one keeps the glitch busy, then the net should knock it out.’

‘Is the net really the best tactic?’ Mitch asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘The glitch will draw power from any nearby source and get bigger. That’s why a crummy app character is already a level ten. It’s in there siphoning power from the grid as we speak,’ Five explained, looking up just as Zahra dropped from above them.

‘All other exits sealed. Hey Miko, Mitch,’ she added with a wave. ‘Thanks for coming to help.’

‘I was thinking of sending Mitch in to keep the glitch busy while Miko helps us with the net,’ Five said, pulling the item’s stats onto a holo-screen.

Miko didn’t miss a quick glance between Mitch and Zahra.

‘It should knock out the power in a kilometre radius,’ Five continued. ‘Concentrated on the centre point, of course.’

‘That’ll kill Mitch’s gauntlet,’ Miko said with a frown. ‘He’ll be in danger.’

‘It’ll kill all of our gauntlets til backup power comes on,’ Five said. ‘But the glitch won’t be able to move either.’

Miko had reservations about being around such a high level glitch without any tech, and judging from Mitch’s body language, so did he.

‘Oh, hey guys,’ Haneesh said, coming around a corner. He made a motion with his hands as he spoke. ‘You ready for a fun glitch?’

‘We’re gonna set up the net,’ Five said, and Haneesh nodded.

‘Okay, good plan,’ he agreed. ‘We need to hurry, the stasis I put those civilians in won’t last for too long.’

Okay, Miko was sure that Mitch was acting weird now. He and Zahra were having a conversation with facial expressions while Five summoned the four rods that would anchor the net with his gauntlet.

Miko caught Mitch’s eye and quirked an eyebrow, accepting her rod from Five without a word. He just looked away.

‘Five,’ Zahra said. ‘I think Miko should distract the glitch. She’s got higher defence than Mitch does.’

‘She’s not as experienced though,’ Five replied, then he turned to his friend. ‘Not that I don’t think you can handle it… I just don’t want you to get hurt.’

‘But it’s okay if I get hurt?’ Mitch interrupted; arms crossed.

‘No!’ Five said, his voice cracking as he slowly lost control of the situation. ‘You’ve just had more experience getting out of difficult situations.’

‘Time,’ Haneesh reminded them, tapping his gauntlet screen like a watch face. ‘Miko can do it, Five.’

Five looked like he wanted to protest, but in the end he just huffed. ‘Fine,’ he said. ‘We need to get moving.’ He took off to his assigned corner, Haneesh and Zahra doing the same.

Mitch held out a hand for the rod, but Miko held it tight. ‘Why don’t you want to be in there?’ she asked with a frown. ‘And  _ don’t _ say your hair.’

‘Can you trust that it’s a good reason?’ Mitch asked, his shoulders relaxing slightly as the others left.

‘What don’t you want to tell me or Five?’ she pressed.

‘Miko,’ he grumbled, holding out his hand. ‘Just give me the damn thing and go do your job.’

She shoved the rod into his hand and scowled at him. ‘How can I trust  _ you _ if you don’t trust  _ me _ ?’ she snapped over her shoulder.

She activated her comms. ‘This is Miko.’

‘ _ Reading you _ ,’ Five replied.

‘ _ This is Mitch _ .’

_ ‘Reading you _ ,’ Five repeated.

Walking into the building made Miko apprehensive. She’d taken on glitches solo before, yes. But this one was a higher level than even the Thunderjaw that knocked her out of play for two weeks.

‘So why do you need someone in here?’ Miko asked over the comms.

‘ _ When all the rods are in place and charged up, a little X will appear in the prime spot. If you can do any damage to the glitch in the meantime that would be helpful but your main goal is to get it as close to that spot as possible then give us the signal to activate it, _ ’ Zahra explained.

‘ _ It’s not instant,’  _ Mitch added. ‘ _ It’ll have a second or two delay between us all activating and the blast. It’ll knock out your gear and your comms, and we won’t be able to help you out. _ ’

Miko nodded, then realised her partner couldn’t see her. ‘Right,’ she said out loud. ‘So, uh… how long til gauntlet backup power comes up?’

‘ _ Couple of seconds,’  _ Haneesh chimed in. ‘ _ You’ll be fine, it’ll come back online with enough power for you to finish it off or get out of there. _ ’

‘Okay, going in,’ she said with a deep breath. Her gauntlet chimed twice.

> **HI5:** you’ve got this
> 
> **MitchFTW:** if you need to get out of there, do it  
>  **MitchFTW:** don’t hesitate just leave we’ll come up with a new plan

She unlocked the seal that Zahra had put on the main entrance and poked her head into the building.

They’d locked it into a sports hall, so she had plenty of space to work with, but also nowhere to hide. The glitch was hanging from one of the basketball rings – it didn’t  _ look  _ like the main character on the app. It looked like a dragon, with a long tail and enormous talons. Although it had no wings, it had a toothy grin, almost humanoid, and huge black eyes that scanned the hall hungrily.

‘Eyes on target,’ Miko said into her comms. ‘He’s creepy.’

‘ _ He’s meant to be the good guy _ ,’ Haneesh snickered in reply.

‘I don’t think he’s the good guy,’ she told them. 'Looks like the bad guy.'

‘ _ Let’s maybe keep the chat quiet while Miko is sneaking around in there without backup, _ ’ Mitch offered, using his bossy voice.

‘ _ I agree, _ ’ Five chimed in. ‘ _ Everyone that’s not Miko, in position? _ ’

Miko tuned them out as Five ran them through the instructions on how to fire up the net, instead activating her shield and scanning the glitch with her high-tech glasses.

_ Powerline App/Siphoner/Level 10/Draws power from power grid/will explode upon defeat. _

Explode upon defeat, excellent. Just what she needed.

‘Where are you?’ called the Glitch, training its dark eyes on her general direction. ‘I can… tasssste… the  _ power _ .’

Miko swallowed. ‘It knows I’m here,’ she whispered into comms. ‘Better get that thing charged up.’

‘ _ It’ll be ready to fire in sixty seconds, _ ’ Haneesh told her. ‘ _ The X should be there already. _ ’

‘Got it. I’ll give you the signal as soon as the glitch is in place,’ she replied.

Another ping on the gauntlet.

> **MitchFTW:** don’t die

Miko snorted, and activated a small, one-handed hammer. She wasn’t willing to give up the shield just yet, but she also wanted to be able to attack if she had a chance.

‘I can ssssmmell it,’ the dragon purred, curling its tail around the basketball hoop while it balanced on the backboard. ‘Deliciousss electrissssssity.’

A forked tongue darted out to taste the air.

‘Hey,  _ ugly _ ,’ Miko called, wandering into the middle of one of the courts. She’d counted six from one end of the hall to the other. ‘You can’t be in here.’

The glitch eyed her warily, eyes as dark as the void, but glittering with malicious curiosity. ‘I do as I pleeaasssssssse,’ it hissed.

As if in reply, the end game alarms started to wail, the electronic backboards flickered, and all the lights went out. It was midday, so she could see just fine, but she still had to find the centre point.

‘There issss no way out,’ the glitch said, slinking its way down to the floor. ‘You are sssstuck in here with me.’

‘Or you’re stuck in here with me,’ Miko said, calmly making her way to the next court.

‘If thatssss how you want to ssssssee it,’ the glitch said with a hissing chuckle, curling its tail. ‘What are you looking for?’

‘Who says I’m looking for anything?’ she asked, stepping over the bench divider.

‘ _ Net charged, Miko _ ,’ Five said, his voice crackling in her headset.

‘The net issss charged,’ the glitch repeated. ‘What isss the net?’

Panic gripped at her, and she immediately shut her voice comms down. If this thing could pick up on their frequency, it made things infinitely harder. The gauntlet pinged.

> **MitchFTW:** why aren’t you answering  
>  **MitchFTW:** Miko
> 
> **HI5:** Miko whats wrong

She kept walking and spied the little blue x on the third court from the door. Slowly, and without drawing attention to the fact that she was doing so, she typed a message to her companions.

> **ME-K.O:** it hears comms  
>  **ME-K.O:** found x be prepared

‘What are you planning, human?’ the creature snarled, stalking her from close by the wall. ‘I know you have little friendsss outssside.’

‘You’re very chatty, for a glitch,’ Miko said, swinging her hammer.

‘You’re very bold, for a human,’ the glitch replied. ‘I’m going to sssssteal the energy in that glove. And then I will leave you to rot.’

‘You’ll try,’ Miko said, facing the creature. She took a few steps backwards.

The glitch started advancing on her, its claws clicking against the hardwood. Its body was serpentine, but muscly. Its scales glimmered gold, its eyes following her every move. Saliva dripped from open jaws.

‘You have no fear,’ it stated.

‘No fear of you,’ she said, gripping the handle of the hammer.

‘Ssssssilly.’

With frightening speed, the glitch raced towards her. It crossed over the X before she had a chance to send her message, but instinct kicked in. Miko swung the hammer upwards, collecting it under the chin the moment it was in range.

It screeched in pain and Miko managed another slam to the side of its head before it backed off. She readied herself for another attack.

‘You’re fasssst,’ it snapped. ‘But not fasssst enough!’

This time her hammer sailed past the glitch, but her shield kept sharp talons from tearing up her shoulder. Almost like it was magnetised, tendrils of energy reached from her gauntlet to the glitch. It licked its chops, eyes glittering as it drained the tech of its battery.

Miko dropped her hammer in favour of being able to access her gauntlet and dropped a speed boost on herself. She was able to wiggle free from the glitch’s grasp and race to the other end of the court.

_ 48% Battery. _

_ Shield Strength: 61% _

Damn.

The glitch stalked towards her again, tail lashing from side to side.

‘What’ssss your plan now?’ it snarled, baring pointed teeth at her. ‘Call for help?’

‘Good idea,’ Miko said, reaching up to her headset and clicking on the communicator.

‘ _ -ve to go in ther-’ _

‘ _ -fine, she knows what she’s doi-’ _

_ ‘-e don’t shut up, we’ll miss the signal-’ _

‘Now!’ Miko yelled, hoping that they could hear her.

The glitch snarled, skittering across the court towards her. Miko diverted all her gauntlet power to her shield, and braced for impact, but the net activated just as the glitch darted past the centre point.

Her shield sputtered into non-existence as the EMP wiped out everything with a boom. The glitch temporarily froze, stuck in stasis for half a second, then it bugged out something fierce. Plixels were no longer confined to its form, and it let out a harsh screech.

‘What have you done?’ it screamed, scratching at its scales. ‘The power… it’sss gone!’

Breathing heavily, Miko turned tail and ran for the exit. She had no gauntlet, no weapon, no shield. The glitch continued to scream, pinned under the strength of the electro-net, and with no running currents to escape into.

As she launched herself over the divider, her gauntlet woke up thanks to the backup power.

_ 14% Battery. _

Her lenses auto-formed, and she could see a number of different toggles on her display. A huge warning crossed the top of the visor about her battery, as well as Mitch’s arrow blinking red. The EMP had knocked out his gear as well. There was an option on her gauntlet screen – divert?

As soon as she read it, her gauntlet battery moved up to 79% battery life. Her shield sprang to life just as the hall doors slammed open. Mitch barged in holding a two-handed gun with a glowing purple muzzle.

The glitch struggled against the net behind her and fell to the floor with a snarl.

‘Duck!’ Mitch ordered, taking aim.

‘Wait!’ Miko called, but she could tell he wasn’t going to hold off on the shot. ‘Mitch-’

_ Boom _ .

The crackling purple bolt sailed past her and struck the glitch squarely in the chest. She kept running towards her partner.

‘Get down,’ she hissed.

Mitch ignored her, taking aim again as the gun charged up. As soon as all the lights were purple, he fired the shot and hit the wyrm in the chest once more.

It wailed and screamed in fury, but it had nowhere to run thanks to the invisible net.

Just like her visor had warned her, the glitch exploded.

Not just a fun little glitchy explosion of plixels and sparkles, either.

A proper  _ explosion.  _ The kind that came from a creature that had been siphoning power from the grid for a solid half hour before anyone had intervened.

Miko threw all her gauntlet power into her shield and planted herself squarely in front of Mitch. The blast slammed them both backwards to the wall, but the shield kept them from taking the brunt of the flames.

They both slid along the polished wood, Mitch burying his face in his elbow to protect from the heat and Miko willing her kneepads to protect the skin underneath. When they realised they were okay, the relief was palpable.

Mitch fell back onto his butt, running his hands through his hair.

Miko dismissed her shield and her visor, leaning back against Mitch’s shoulder. ‘Are you okay?’ she asked.

Before he could say anything, the rest of the Techs burst into the hall.

‘Are you okay?’ Five squeaked, dropping to his knees and throwing his arms around Miko.

‘We’re fine,’ she said, patting his back. ‘We’re good. Right Mitch?’

Mitch just gave them a thumbs up.

‘We’re good,’ Miko repeated with a smile.

Zahra had immediately gone to collect the glitch, and Haneesh held out a hand for Mitch to help him up.

‘Battery?’ he asked, gesturing to the gauntlet.

‘Dead,’ Mitch replied simply. ‘Diverted everything to Miko.’

‘It’s cool you can do that,’ Haneesh said. ‘But you have to keep some of it for yourself.’

Miko got to her feet as well, watching Five’s face as  _ he  _ watched Zahra collect the glitch.

‘Miko?’ Haneesh called. ‘Go back to base and recharge your gauntlets, yeah?’

He handed Miko the van keys, and she frowned. Mitch  _ never  _ let her drive.

Her partner grabbed her by the sleeve and the two of them left Team Five to clean up the mess. 

*

Mitch climbed into the passenger seat without complaint, reaching into the back to place his deactivated gauntlet band on the charging pad. 

‘Don’t judge my driving skills,’ Miko mumbled as she turned the key in the ignition. 

Mitch didn’t say anything, but he was pulling that same face he had earlier when he wanted to say something, but he wasn’t sure of it yet. 

Miko didn’t push it this time, she just focused on not crashing. 

As soon as they got back to HQ, Mitch was out the door and gone before she’d even unbuckled her seatbelt. She chewed her thumbnail while she wandered through the space, plugging her gauntlet in. She had no mission, had already eaten her lunch, and her partner was nowhere to be seen.

Miko slumped on the communal couch, playing on her phone. Eventually Mitch appeared, his fully charged band around his wrist.

‘Miko,’ he said eventually, and she sat upright. ‘Can I sit down?’ 

She scooted over without a word, trying to squash down the concern that was building in the back of her throat. He sat beside her, back ramrod straight and his hands in his lap.

‘About… all that…earlier,’ Mitch said. ‘You’re right. About all the...’

He waved a hand while he searched for the right words. ‘… trust stuff.’ 

Miko quirked an eyebrow and pulled her feet up onto the couch. 

‘We’re meant to be working together and...’ Mitch continued. ‘And Phil says… I am not good. At working together.’

She fidgeted in her seat, forcing herself not to interrupt him.

‘Okay look, I’m deaf,’ he said, looking straight ahead.

A beat.

Miko blinked, the cogs in her mind whirring. ‘I’m sorry?’ 

‘I’m deaf,’ he repeated, adding a hand movement where he touched two fingers to his ear then his mouth. ‘Partially, at least. My headset functions as a hearing aid. When it has no power, it doesn’t work.’ 

‘The EMP knocked out all the tech,’ Miko realised out loud, twisting in her seat. ‘That’s why you didn’t want to go in there.’

A wry smile tugged at the corner of Mitch’s mouth. ‘Probably dangerous to be fighting glitches with no weapon and no hearing.’

‘How… like…’ Miko chewed over the sentence, unsure of how to ask.

‘How severe?’

‘Yes! How severe is the damage?’

‘Bad enough to be a nuisance,’ Mitch said, a hint of bitterness in his tone. ‘Without any hearing aid, I can hear loud noises but talking? Mumbly things? The sounds all blur together and it’s hard to distinguish. I usually read body language or lips, even with my headset working.’

Miko sat on her hands to stop herself from fidgeting while she processed this new information. ‘Zahra and Haneesh know already?’

‘Obviously,’ he said, leaning back. ‘Haneesh is one of the only Techs who can use ASL, but I’m not very good at it. I’m still learning.’ 

‘And Zahra?’

‘She’s my friend,’ he said with a shrug. 

Miko just nodded, looking down at her toes. Were they friends now? Is that what this meant? 

‘For the record,’ Mitch continued, still not making eye contact. ‘If I was ever overly rude or anything-’

‘ _If_ you were ever rude?’ Miko interrupted with a snort.

Mitch laughed softly. ‘Okay, fine… I am sorry for being rude. You’re very, uh… animated? You’re hard to read. So, it was easier to just… be an arse. Sorry.’

‘In your defence, I’m very annoying,’ she offered, earning a snort from him. 

‘That too.’ 

‘I can try to tone it down?’ she said, playing with the cuff of her sleeve. ‘If it helps.’

‘No, that’s not what I meant,’ Mitch said, looking at her. ‘You’re weird when you’re all flat. I’m getting used to it.’ 

They were quiet for a beat. Then, Miko gave him a smile.

‘I have ADHD,’ she announced, hugging her knees. 

‘I’ll be honest, I guessed that one.’

‘Shush, I’m sharing my vulnerabilities, so you feel better about sharing yours.’ 

‘I apologise, please continue.’

Miko thought for a moment, tapping her chin. ‘That’s really… all I had to say.’

Mitch laughed softly. ‘Come on, I owe you half my lunch.’

Miko jumped to her feet, grinning. ‘Are we friends now?’

‘No.’

‘What?’ she cried, outraged. ‘But you told me a thing! A private thing that you don’t tell many people!’

Mitch looked her dead in the eye and pointed at her. ‘ _ Real _ friends send cat pictures.’

Miko rolled her eyes. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ 

*

‘Can I get Mitch and Miko to my office please?’ Phil’s voice came over the intercom, and the two shared a quick glance. Miko shoved Mitch playfully as she passed, half running to the office.

She skidded to a halt by the door and knocked, Mitch jogging to catch up to her.

‘Come in,’ Phil called. ‘I got something for you.’

Sitting on the desk were two identical envelopes.

Mitch’s hands were shaking when he picked his letter up, and Miko watched him read it before even opening her own.

‘MitchFTW, please be aware we are moving to phase two immediately. A reminder that revealing classified information will result in mind erasure. Welcome to HRO,’ he read, grinning widely and genuinely.

It was startling if Miko was honest, but infectious. She tore open her letter to find the same thing.

‘We did it!’ she laughed, holding it in the air.

‘We did it!’ he repeated, kissing the paper.

‘Congratulations,’ Phil said, a half-smile on his face. ‘You’ve been promoted to Night Shift. Be here at 8:30pm on Saturday for a 9pm start. Do  _ not  _ be late.’ 

*

Unsurprisingly, Miko was too tired for games that night when she got home. Instead, she set up her laptop with Netflix, picked an old movie from her childhood and curled up on her side - the one that wasn’t bruised from taking the brunt of an explosion. 

The life of a superhero was exhausting. 

‘Can I watch?’ Lexi asked, coming into the room after brushing her teeth. 

‘Sure.’ 

Miko shuffled over and her sister stuck her feet under the covers to watch. After a while, Aerith padded into the room, looking up at them curiously. 

The calico leapt lightly onto the bed and settled on Miko’s lap in a rare display of affection. 

‘Hell must be freezing over,’ Lexi giggled, giving the cat a scratch behind the ears.

*

Mitch was ignoring some cooking show on the tv when his phone went off, the vibration nearly making it fall from the arm of the couch. Balancing his mug on his knee, the pro gamer unlocked the screen with a quick swipe. 

> **ME-K.O:** [  _ image attached _ ]  
>  **ME-K.O:** don’t say I don’t treat my friends well

The photo was of Miko’s fluffy cat, curled up in her lap and obviously unhappy with the choice to use the flash. He laughed and saved the photo to his camera roll. 

> **Mitch Williams:** finally delivering the goods Kubota  
>  **Mitch Williams:** it’s about time 

*

**[ Friendship Level One:** **_Unlocked_ ** **]**

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooooooooooooh plot hello!!  
> They DID IT! What could possibly happen next?  
> Note: I am not deaf or hearing impaired, if there's anything I could improve on for that aspect of this fic PLEASE feel free to reach out to me! Any sign that's described is in Auslan because it's familiar, sorry not sorry for that bit.  
> This chapter would NOT be here without SuzetteisBlue, she's an actual godsend, I love her with my whole heart.  
> ALSO go follow Jadisimus for your Mitchko art fix, she's been hyping this fic like mad and I don't deserve her friendship.
> 
> Please consider leaving a comment or kudos, and sharing this fic on twitter or tumblr or discord! Also! Come yell Mitchko things with me!


	7. Hinobi Rose Order

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double chapter? Idk her.  
> 7k words in 2 days? Apparently, I DO know her.

**CHAPTER SEVEN:** **_THE HINOBI ROSE ORDER_ **

Miko had never seen Mitch so wired. Even though they were in the Hinobi store _after hours,_ he wasn’t paying any attention to how creepy the place was when it was empty.

‘Mitch, if you don’t cut it out, I will feed you to Garbile,’ Phil yawned, scratching his beard. ‘You’re going to wear a hole into my carpet.’

‘Sorry,’ Mitch replied, stopping his pacing.

‘There’s no need to be nervous,’ Miko offered, and Mitch just scoffed.

‘I’m not _nervous_ ,’ he lied, crossing his arms. ‘We just got here too early.’

‘You got here right on time, the portal will open when the other side decides to open it,’ Phil told them. ‘I’ll be here til you get back, watchin my shows. Might order dinner, who knows how long you’ll take.’

‘You don’t know?’ Miko asked, toying with a frayed bit of thread in her jumper sleeve.

‘You never know anything with HRO,’ Phil replied.

At 8:47pm, the wall of Phil’s office morphed into a brilliant portal, tinted pink. Miko grabbed Mitch’s arm and jumped up and down a few times before he shook her off.

‘Let’s go!’ she grinned, dancing towards it.

‘Let me savour the moment,’ Mitch interrupted. ‘Do you know how _long_ I’ve waited for this?’

‘Savour quickly, they’ll close it,’ Phil deadpanned, which kicked Mitch into gear.

‘Alright, let’s go!’ he declared.

The two techs stepped through the portal at the same time, Miko resisting the urge to close her eyes as she did so.

They reappeared in… an office.

A very normal office, with a desk and a chair pushed up against one wall, and an unused calendar on the wall. A tall woman in a skin-tight black suit was resting against the desk. She had black hair with streaks of grey by the roots, steely eyes and a fearsome aura.

‘Welcome,’ she said simply, standing. She towered over them both. ‘From here on in, you are not to use your names. Breaking this rule will result in mind erasure. Please take these to the next room down the hallway to your left and get changed. Choose a locker for your things, and you’ll be given your next set of instructions.’

Miko and Mitch both nodded, accepting the folded black clothes the woman handed them. As they turned into the hallway, Miko couldn’t help but flash Mitch an excited grin, and he fought to keep himself from returning one.

The next room had rows of lockers and a number of changerooms. Miko stripped off her classic white and blue suit, rolling it into a ball and chucking it into the corner. The new suit was almost identical, except black. It had a stripe down the side that ran from her underarm down to her ankle, as well as on the inner seam and outside of her sleeves. It wasn’t a particular colour, but when Miko tapped it with her fingernail, the stripe shimmered rainbow colours.

She pulled on the boots and tugged the few strands of hair that were caught inside the collar of the suit. It fit perfectly.

A knock on her door made her jump.

‘You alright in there?’ Mitch called.

‘Yes, sorry,’ she replied, opening the door.

His suit was identical to hers, his clothes folded neatly in his arms. ‘Come on, there’s another room down the hallway,’ he said, gesturing with his head.

The next room had another person in it – his bored expression didn’t change as they approached.

‘Headset,’ he said simply, holding his hand out to Mitch.

Her partner hesitated. ‘I need it,’ he said.

‘I’m aware of your circumstances, you’ll get it back in the next five minutes, I just need to update it,’ the tech said with a sigh.

Miko pulled off her headset as well in preparation as Mitch handed his over. The technician flipped open a panel at the bottom of the headset and pulled out a tiny card. He worked in silence, not sparing them a second glance.

Miko put a hand on Mitch’s arm and offered him a smile, which he returned reluctantly.

When the tech gave back Mitch’s headset, he at least waited until it was on before speaking. ‘Okay, you’ve got a new toggle on the underside – try not to activate it unless you’re here, or else we might have to do some memory wiping.’

He took Miko’s headset and started the process again.

‘Activate your visor please,’ he said to Mitch, who did so. It was still pink, same as usual. ‘Aaand.. the switch underneath?’

When Mitch flicked it, the visor expanded into a shiny black helmet that covered his entire head. It looked vaguely familiar, but Miko couldn’t place where she’d seen one before.

‘Comfy?’ she asked with a grin.

‘Strangely,’ Mitch replied, his voice slightly garbled by the helmet.

‘You’ll need to put your hair up,’ the tech said to Miko, handing back her headset. ‘As soon as they’re on, they should start the reboot process, which includes connecting to your gauntlets. Your helmets are not to be used outside of this arena unless you are given express permission _or_ your lives are in real danger, is that understood?’

‘Yes,’ they said in sync as Miko activated the visor and then the helmet.

Mitch was right, the helmet was very comfortable. It fit perfectly, like the suit, and the display was fancy, but simple. It wouldn’t distract her with flashing icons, although she did notice that Mitch’s arrow was still to the left of her vision.

‘Right, go to the room at the end of the hall, and remember, no names,’ the tech reminded them.

They turned and walked out of the room together. As soon as they were out of sight of the tech, Mitch leaned down.

‘This is the same helmet that Nameless wears,’ he muttered. ‘You remember the Dabney tech?’

‘That’s it!’ Miko said excitedly. ‘I knew I’d seen it before!’

The door at the end of the hall was open, and inside was a small, white room with bright lights and a whiteboard. It almost felt like a classroom. The woman that had greeted them by the portal was waiting for them, and there were four others sitting in chairs silently. All but one had identical suits to them – the outlier had a green stripe on their uniform instead of the colourless one.

‘Please sit,’ the woman said sharply. ‘We have a lot to get through in a short amount of time.’

Miko took a seat in the second row and Mitch took a seat directly beside her, which looked weird since the others were all spaced out.

‘Welcome to the Hinobi Rose Order,’ the woman began. ‘I am Agent Thorn. You may call me Agent, or Thorn, but nothing else. Is that understood?’

There was a smattered murmur of yesses, all garbled by the helmets.

‘Good. You have all received your headset upgrades. They are not for use outside of this facility except under very specific circumstances, which we will go over later. A reminder that breaking any of the rules of HRO will result in your entire Hinobi career being wiped from your mind. Is this understood?’

Again, the group mumbled their understanding.

‘Good. Then let us begin,’ Thorn said with a half-smile. It was unsettling, like a predator trying to coax prey closer, and Miko felt nerves start to bundle in her stomach. What had she gotten herself into?

‘Today we will be… getting to know each other,’ Thorn said, stepping around her desk. Her heels clicked on the floor, echoing slightly. ‘You’ve all been chosen for this team because of the roles you have come into as everyday techs. I’m sure you’ll find that you will work very well together.’

She levelled them with a stern look. ‘It is not uncommon for Rose Order trainees to fail during this phase. The last round of techs we had, only one made it through. I will be very surprised if you all make it, but then we must have some hope.’

Miko felt like she was missing something. And what was worse, she couldn’t just turn to Mitch and see what he was thinking on that stupidly expressive face of his. She wondered how he was managing, with no ability to lipread, and with garbled voices. He turned his head ever so slightly towards her, which made her think he might be watching her from the corner of his vision.

‘I’d like to introduce our first trainee,’ Thorn said, gesturing to the front of the room. ‘Agent Trainee Moss.’

The trainee with the green stripe stood up and turned to face the team. ‘I’m Moss, I have the green stripe, obviously. My role within the team is Melee DPS and 2IC. I have completed this training already, however, my team didn’t make it through. I look forward to working with you. And uh… I use he/they pronouns, please.’

‘Moss is an excellent Agent already, and you are very lucky to have them,’ Thorn said. ‘The rest of you do not have your codenames as of yet, but you will before you leave today. Now, all of you, will you kindly stand and line up against the back wall.’

The room was filled with the scraping of chairs and the techs all did as they were told. Miko found herself between Mitch and another taller trainee. They looked down at her briefly, and even if they couldn’t see her, Miko smiled anyway. They were teammates after all.

‘Since you are all highly skilled glitch techs,’ Thorn began, reaching for a little black remote on the desk. ‘I’m sure you can handle yourselves. Good luck.’

She pressed the button, and the floor fell out from underneath them.

Miko couldn’t help but cry out as they fell. It wasn’t a big drop, but the surprise element had her nauseous. She landed with a thump; half of the fall cushioned by one of the other techs.

‘Is everyone okay?’ Moss asked, already on their feet.

There was a collective groan from the group.

‘Your first challenge as Rose Order Trainees,’ came Thorn’s voice over the PA system. ‘Get out of the maze. You only pass if all six of you make it to the finish.’

Miko scrambled to her feet, helping up the trainee she’d crushed. They were in a narrow corridor with drab grey concrete walls.

‘Do we have comms?’ Mitch asked – even through the voice modifier, she knew that bossy tone anywhere.

‘I can read you loud and clear,’ Miko said. ‘But we’re close together.’

‘The thick concrete might interrupt it if we split up,’ added another tech, putting a hand on the cool slab.

The group started flicking through their gauntlets, and Miko found herself with a familiar hammer and shield combo. She also found an area for customisation and selected the purple option.

‘How’d you do that?’ Mitch asked.

‘Do what?’

He gestured to her suit, and sure enough the stripes down the sides had gone purple. ‘Oh, cool,’ she said, examining her own leg.

‘Your arrow says Indigo,’ one of the other techs said. ‘That must be your codename! How’d you find it!’

Miko guided the others to find the information, and soon they all had brightly coloured stripes to match Moss and herself.

‘Right, okay, we have names and a way to recognise each other now,’ Mitch – now Blush, thanks to the pink stripe on his suit – said, stepping into his usual role as the team leader.

‘This might help,’ said Honey, the yellow striped tech. In her hand she had a number of tracking beacons. ‘I’ll be able to track you with these.’

‘Brilliant,’ Mitch said, reaching for them. ‘Okay, we’re going to split up and take different directions. Scarlet, you’ll go with Moss. Honey, you’ll come with me. Mi- uhh Indigo, you’ll go with Sky.’

Miko nodded, looking over at the little tech with the blue stripe. 

‘Call for help if you need it, and we’ll get to you as soon as we can. If you need to run, _run_ , got it?’ Mitch said.

The team nodded in unison.

‘See you at the other end,’ Mitch said as a final call, and Miko could hear the grin in his voice. He was _loving_ this.

Mitch Williams was born to be a Rose Order Agent.

Miko and Sky took the left most path, Miko in the lead with her shield while Sky kept close behind, one hand on the wall.

‘So… uh…’ Miko said, looking for something to say. ‘I’m Indigo. I guess. I’m a she.’

Sky laughed. ‘I guess I’m Sky. Also a she.’

‘Nice to meet you Sky!’

‘And you, Indigo.’

The two crept along the maze quietly, a clock ticking in the top right-hand corner of her display. She could see the whole team and their arrows, although it wasn’t exactly accurate given the nature of the maze.

Their comms crackled to life, and Mitch’s voice rang through. ‘ _Anyone encountered anything yet?’_

‘Nothing on this end,’ Miko replied immediately. ‘Just a lot of wall.’

‘ _Keep going,_ ’ Mitch replied. ‘ _Moss? Scarlet?’_

_‘Negative,_ ’ came the voice of… one of them. Miko couldn’t differentiate their voices just yet. ‘ _We did hear something on the other side of one of the walls though. Couldn’t identify it or scan it._ ’

‘ _Keep an eye out,_ ’ Mitch told them. ‘ _Check in if you find something_.’

Miko dropped her shield to conserve her gauntlet battery and yawned.

‘Do you know how late we’ll go?’ Sky asked, not removing her hand from the wall.

‘I guess it depends on how quickly we solve this,’ Miko sighed. ‘I’m so glad I don’t have to work tomorrow.’

‘Lucky,’ Sky sighed. ‘My team is going to kill me for being so tired.’

‘What do you do? In your team?’ Miko asked curiously. ‘And ours now, too.’

Even without being able to see her face, Miko could tell that Sky had brightened up. ‘I’m a hacker!’ she said excitedly. ‘I can break into any system; I can recharge your gauntlet and I can repurpose most tech to work for us!’

‘Wow,’ Miko said, stopping in her tracks. ‘That’s so cool. I can’t do any of that.’

‘You were chosen for a reason,’ Sky offered. ‘What’s your team role?’

‘I’m in a duo,’ Miko said vaguely. ‘I just tank. High defence.’

‘Ah, Blush paired us well then!’ Sky said happily. ‘You can protect me while I do sneaky things.’

Miko laughed, and Sky joined in.

‘Surely there’s more to this than-’

‘ _Glitch!’_ came a voice over the comms. ‘ _Got a level five glitch in a dead end!’_

‘Who said that?’ Miko asked.

‘Sounded like Scarlet,’ Sky chimed in. ‘They’re probably at the other end of the maze!’

‘ _Do you need help?’_ Mitch asked urgently.

‘ _We’ll be okay, it’s low-tier. But be aware of them!_ ’ Scarlet replied.

‘ _Understood,_ ’ Mitch said, and Miko echoed his sentiment so they knew she and Sky had heard.

The timer on Sky’s gauntlet had them wandering through the maze for an hour before they found anything.

‘Indi!’ Sky cried, racing ahead. ‘Look!’

She was pointing up at a little black circle on the ceiling.

‘What is it?’ Miko frowned.

‘It’s a camera,’ Sky said, delighted. ‘Quick, help me reach it.’

The camera was in a corner, and as soon as Sky stepped into the line of sight of the other corridor, she immediately shrieked and backed up.

Acting on instinct, Miko summoned her shield and diverted extra power into it. She dragged Sky behind her by the arm just as the glitch came barrelling around the corner. It slammed into her shield with a deep bellow, but Miko held firm.

‘I’m so sorry if this hurts you but it shouldn’t,’ Sky whispered, reaching around Miko to plant something on the front of the shield.

‘What-’

Before she could finish, Sky activated the little box and the shield became electrified. The Glitch screeched in defiance but backed off, giving the two some breathing space.

‘I’m used to defending a glass cannon,’ Miko explained. ‘I have my hammer, but I can’t attack and protect you at the same time.’

‘That’s okay,’ Sky said, flicking through her gauntlet. ‘It’s a level three, so it’s not overly dangerous, it just scared me. Can you take that on your own?’

‘What are you going to do?’ Miko asked, shrinking her shield, and summoning her one-handed hammer.

‘Disappear,’ Sky said with a giggle, and on cue she faded into nothingness.

‘Duuuuuuude,’ Miko said, but she couldn’t take too long to admire the skill. She had a glitch to take care of.

It wasn’t like any glitch she’d ever seen before. It looked like a mad scientist’s experiment gone wrong, extraneous eyes and limbs stuck onto a fleshy mass and coloured grey-green.

Miko dropped a strength boost on herself – it wasn’t as good as Mitch’s Bull’s Strength, but it would do for a level three glitch.

Her visor didn’t give her any game data for the glitch, but it did highlight weak points. A few well-aimed slams with her hammer had the thing down to root form, and she was able to collect it with her gauntlet.

With a chime, her battery went up by 25%.

‘Sky?’ Miko asked, breathing heavily. ‘You still here?’

Sky dropped from the ceiling and rematerialised at the same time. ‘I’m here,’ she chirped. ‘I was able to access the main system through the camera and now I have a map.’

‘You… what?’

‘I have a map!’ Sky repeated.

The map appeared on Miko’s visor display and included colour coded dots that were obviously meant to symbolise their teammates. A skinny green line was directing them through the maze, to the exit.

‘Sky, where have you been all my life?’ Miko asked, throwing her arms around her smaller teammate.

‘I can’t tell you,’ Sky laughed. ‘But I’m glad we met!’

They confirmed that they had indeed found a dead end and turned on their heel to backtrack. The map, however, made things a lot easier. Using the high-tech helmet, Sky was able to find the shortest route through the maze to the exit.

‘Come in team,’ she said. ‘I’m sending you a little something.’

‘ _Is that a map?’_

_‘How did you find a map?’_

_‘Okay, everyone hold up,’_ Mitch interrupted. ‘ _I’m setting a waypoint where we’ll all cross paths. Wait there, and we’ll finish the last part of the maze together since it stands that it’ll be the most dangerous. Clear?_ ’

There was a collective agreement.

‘ _Excellent. Be safe. Good work Sky._ ’

‘Thanks!’ Sky said cheerfully, grabbing Miko’s arm. ‘I impressed the team leader!’

‘M…mmm…. Blush?’ Miko said, catching herself at the last minute.

‘They seem super serious.’

‘He’s a good leader,’ Miko said, following the green line on her map, shield up just in case. ‘He’s also a bossy pain in my neck on occasion.’

‘Do you know each other outside of HRO?’

‘We came from the same store,’ Miko explained. ‘Recruited together!’

‘That’s cool!’ Sky mused. ‘You came here with a friend at least.’

‘I think we’ll all get along in the end,’ Miko said with a laugh. ‘This isn’t so bad.’

They rounded the corner and nearly ran right into Moss and Scarlet. Moss had a spear in one hand, the end crackling with green energy, while Scarlet had a little shield on one arm.

‘How’d you find a map?’ Scarlet asked immediately.

‘Hacked the system,’ Sky said proudly, her hands on her hips.

‘Very clever,’ Moss hummed. ‘And now we wait.’

As it turned out, Scarlet was a very chatty male, and he got along with Sky and Miko fantastically. The ever-quiet Moss didn’t say anything else, just watched the map on their display.

‘And then she turned invisible. By the time the glitch was plixel dust, she had the map. It was incredible,’ Miko relayed.

‘We ran into a level five early on,’ Scarlet explained. ‘Moss took care of it pretty quick, but it was a good chance to see how my new boosts actually work.’

Before long, Mitch and Honey joined them, both out of breath from running. Somehow, they’d found themselves the furthest from the exit.

Mitch immediately started organising the team to take on the last leg of the maze. They’d been at it for two and a half hours at that point, and they were getting tired. He and Honey definitely needed a breather.

‘M- Indigo, you’re taking the lead,’ Mitch explained. ‘You’ll take Moss and Sky in the lead team. Honey and Scarlet will stay back with me and we’ll catch up.’

Miko nodded, summoning her shield. Sky gave her a little battery boost, and gave Moss one as well, and the trio were off. The others would follow in the next five minutes.

Her gauntlet pinged, and she slowed her walking to check it.

> **BLUSH:** don’t do anything stupid
> 
> **INDIGO:** rude

‘So, Moss,’ Sky said, not looking up from the holo screen projection of the map she was following. ‘How are we doing in comparison to your last group?’

‘I can’t tell you,’ Moss said simply, shouldering their spear. ‘I’m not technically supposed to be helping, unless it’s to fight anything you come across.’

‘Did they think to hack into the system?’ Miko asked, peeking around a corner.

‘Eventually,’ Moss replied, a hint of amusement in their tone. ‘We were here for _hours_.’

Miko beamed, even though her companions couldn’t see it. She couldn’t wait to tell Mitch that they’d done better than the last team.

As they wandered the halls, guided by Sky’s directions, Miko’s mind wandered.

She thought about how much Five would love a challenge like this. He’d have a plan right away, probably involving all of them sticking together. The complete opposite of Mitch’s plan. She checked the time on her gauntlet. They’d been in the maze for three and a half hours. It was well past midnight.

The trio rounded a corner and immediately froze. The corridor was wider, and they could see the exit at the other end. Standing right in the middle was a Glitch, but again it wasn’t like any Glitch Miko had ever seen.

Unlike the strange muscle mass that she and Sky had run into earlier, this glitch towered over them. It looked dangerous, tufts of fur breaking through off-grey skin and enormous forearms that ended large, clawed hands. A canine maw dripped with saliva, baring rows of lethal teeth, and small amber eyes darted maniacally in its head.

What made it different to other glitches, however, was that her scanner didn’t pick up a glitch signature. No game, no stats. Just a heat signature.

Sky slowly reached out to rest her hand on Miko’s shoulder, and Moss’ as well. She guided them back around the corner before the glitch could see them, and Miko let out a sigh of relief.

‘B squad, this is Sky,’ the blue trainee said into her comms. ‘We’ve located the exit, there’s a glitch in the way. Scanner isn’t saying anything.’

‘ _We’re on our way_ ,’ Mitch replied. ‘ _Be there in two minutes_.’

They skidded around the corner one minute and thirteen seconds later, Scarlet obviously having dropped a speed boost on them. Mitch stopped right by her side and peeked around the corner.

‘Oh, that looks fun,’ he said, his garbled helmet voice dripping with sarcasm. ‘Are we sure that’s the exit?’

‘That’s what the system is telling me,’ Sky offered.

‘Alright, HRO obviously wants us all working together to get past this one,’ Mitch began, turning to the team. ‘So, here’s what I’m thinking. Mmm- Indigo, we send you in to engage with Moss. Keep it distracted and busy, try to damage it as much as you can. Sky, using your chameleon skill, get up close and try to analyse it and break it down. It’s obviously not from a game like we’re used to.’

Miko couldn’t help but wonder if this Mitch Williams had been in there all along, or if he was making a particular effort to not be his usual bossy, somewhat rude self. She was actually a little proud of him; clearly this meant a lot to her partner and from her viewpoint, he was acing it.

‘Scarlet, your job is to keep Moss and Indigo alive, support their attacks. Honey, you’ll stay back with me, and we’ll work on it from afar. If I say to move though, you need to move. I don’t know these new attacks very well, and from what I’ve read, some of them don’t care if you’re friend or foe, they’ll just explode.’

Mitch looked around at all of them, uncanny given the blank black of his helmet.

‘Let’s kick some ass,’ Miko offered, activating her hammer.

Scarlet immediately gave Miko an Iron Defence powerup, which would give her shield twice as much health, even if it made the thing impossibly heavy.

‘It’s a planted shield,’ the red tech explained. ‘So, you can just drop it down and once it’s on the ground it will not move. Don’t use it ‘til you’re ready.’

Mitch was talking quietly with Sky, who melted from sight. She’d activated a feature that meant the others in the team could see a faint blue outline of where she was through the visor, but Miko was sure that if she pulled off the helmet, Sky would be totally invisible.

‘Ready rookie?’ Moss asked, switching out their spear for a longsword.

‘Born ready,’ she grinned. ‘After you.’

Moss darted into the corridor with surprising speed, and she followed right behind them. The sudden movement had the glitch snarling, beady eyes snapping to their location.

‘Shield,’ Moss barked.

Miko made a split-second assumption as to what that actually meant, and lifted her shield up on an angle.

‘Thanks!’ they said, using the shield as a springboard.

Miko added a little shove and Moss soared through the air, sword glinting dramatically. The blade struck true, sinking into the glitch’s shoulder. As the creature bellowed in pain, Miko swung her hammer, keeping her shield up so that it would break Moss’ fall.

They landed and rolled off to one side, nodding in thanks.

The glitch snapped angry jaws, falling heavily against the wall. It lashed out with its claws, but Miko managed to block it in time.

Arrows fired from behind them momentarily distracted the glitch, giving Miko and Moss time to back up out of range.

‘This thing does not read as a traditional glitch,’ Sky told them over comms. ‘It does, however, have a health bar!’

Miko and Moss took turns knocking down pieces of the creature’s health. Honey volleyed magic arrow after magic arrow, while Sky attempted to open the door.

‘How’s that big hit coming, Blush?’ Miko called, bracing for another hit against her shield.

‘Almost there,’ Mitch replied. ‘It’s a fifth level spell it takes some time.’

‘We don’t _have_ time,’ she said.

Miko looked over her shoulder. He was drawing a complicated looking sigil in the air, muttering to himself as he did so.

‘Get ready to duck,’ he called. ‘And… cast!’

Mitch pressed his open palm against the sigil and it flared to life. A flaming sphere the size of a basketball came hurtling toward them.

‘Oh nerds,’ Miko squeaked, reaching out to grab Moss. She tugged them behind her shield and slammed the base of it into the ground, activating the Iron Defence boost.

The sphere erupted in a blazing fireball the moment it collided with the glitch, and Miko was glad for her helmet. Two more fireballs spat from the sigil, and the hallway was filled with smoke.

‘You got it,’ Sky’s voice came over the comms. ‘At least, it’s down. Door is waiting on six gauntlet signatures to open so get over here!’

‘Let’s go,’ Moss said, but Miko hesitated. ‘He’ll be right behind, come on.’

Nodding, Miko dismissed her shield and followed Moss’ glowing green stripe through the smoke. The two of them stepped over the painted line and next to Sky.

‘Are you guys okay?’ Miko called over comms.

‘Right behind you,’ Honey replied as the three of them appeared out of the smoke.

Mitch reached out and touched her shoulder briefly before pushing through to the door and shoving it open.

Agent Thorn was waiting for them, a timer in her hand. ‘Not bad,’ she said, unimpressed. ‘I’ve seen better, and I’ve seen worse. Come.’

*

The team were silent as they moved to another room – one where the floor was still intact – and then they were seated back in the classroom setting.

You know, as if they hadn’t just run around a dangerous underground maze for four hours.

‘You’ve all been chosen for your unique ability to use the resources available to you. All other Glitch Techs have access to the same skill trees, the same power ups. But you six manage to think outside the box, and that is exactly what we’re looking for in the Rose Order,’ Thorn explained, pacing back and forth in the front of the room.

‘Agent Trainee Sky, you were able to extract information from our system without any problems, while Agent Trainee Indigo kept you safe. Congratulations, you have impressed me the most so far.’

Miko couldn’t see under Sky’s helmet, but she was sure the girl was _beaming_ with pride.

‘That being said, Agent Trainee Blush, your assessment of the situation was well thought out, your choice of partners made sense and you were able to control the team even split up, I commend you.’

Mitch just nodded in response, but Miko could see his hand squeezed into a fist under the table – something she regularly did to stop herself from moving around too much. He was pleased.

‘Before you leave for the night, know this,’ Thorn said, gesturing to the HRO logo on the wall behind her. ‘The Hinobi Rose Order exists for one reason. To protect the parent company and its assets by any means possible. As a Rose Agent, you will be sent to internal locations to protect Hinobi staff and contain Hinobi glitches that are above the pay grade of a regular Glitch Tech. Or…’

She paused for dramatic effect. ‘You’ll be sent to sabotage our enemies. And Hinobi has many, _many_ enemies.’

Miko chanced a look at Mitch, who also tipped his helmet in her direction. What enemies could a video game company have?

‘Your training sessions will rarely run this late from now on. We will be running physical drills and classroom type sessions to educate you on the inner workings of Hinobi. When we decide you’re ready, we move to phase three of training. I hope you all get there.’

Thorn opened the classroom door. ‘Change from your uniforms before leaving, take them with you, keep your helmets on until you’re on the other side of the portal. No names, no faces, no spilling the beans. See you all next week.’

And like that, their first “Night Shift” was over.

The team filed into the changerooms, and Miko found her locker – now labelled “Agent Trainee INDIGO”. In the changeroom, she peeled off the sweaty black suit and pulled on her plain white uniform instead. Even though she was in a locked room, she didn’t dare pull off the helmet. The last thing she needed was to get kicked out on day one.

A knock on her door startled her. ‘Indigo?’

‘Coming,’ she said, grabbing her black uniform and boots.

Mitch was waiting for her by the lockers, and they walked to their portal together.

‘Good work Trainees,’ Thorn said simply, directing them to the right one. ‘Have a good week.’

‘Thank you, Agent Thorn,’ Miko said with a wave, and then they stepped through the glowing pink portal.

*

Mitch and Miko stepped into Phil’s office together and the portal closed behind them, leaving them in the dark. Said manager was fast asleep at his desk, head tipped back in a way that meant he’d probably have a very sore neck in the morning.

Mitch flicked the little switch on his headset and the helmet collapsed into his standard pink visor, which he then dismissed.

Miko dismissed her helmet and visor as well and couldn’t fight a quiet giggle.

‘What?’ Mitch whispered.

‘You have helmet hair something fierce,’ she snickered.

He just grinned, cheeks flushed from being under the helmet for so long. ‘Why are we whispering?’ he asked.

‘I don’t want to wake him,’ Miko replied, pointing at Phil. The time on the wall clock said it was nearly two in the morning.

‘We have to,’ Mitch said, crossing the room and tapping Phil on the shoulder. ‘Phil… Phil!’

‘Hng- what? Oh… you guys okay? All done?’ Phil yawned, sitting up with a groan.

‘All done, sorry it was so late,’ Miko said with an apologetic smile.

‘Right… get out of here, get some sleep. I’ll see you on Monday.’

‘Oh,’ Miko half raised her hand. ‘I was wondering if I could just crash here tonight? I told my family I was staying with Five.’

Phil rubbed his face with his hands. ‘That’s a no-can-do, kiddo. I can’t just leave you here alone. Want me to take you home?’

‘Uh…’ And face her mum? Confess that she’d lied?

‘You can stay at my place?’ Mitch offered, stifling a yawn. ‘I’ll drop you home tomorrow morning.’

‘Are you sure?’ Miko asked, reaching for her bag she’d stashed before they left.

‘I don’t bite,’ Mitch said, rolling his eyes. ‘You’re not doing anything other than sleeping. Just an offer.’

She hesitated for half a second, but the thought of being permanently grounded and potentially banished to the mung bean fields was enough to sway her. ‘That would be great, thanks.’

‘You have my number,’ Phil said. ‘If _anything_ happens, you call me. I will come and get you.’

‘I’m _right here_ ,’ Mitch scoffed.

‘Good. Now I know that you’ll make sure she’s safe and comfortable,’ Phil said, putting an arm around Mitch’s shoulders.

‘No wonder everyone thinks I’m some kind of monster,’ Mitch muttered, allowing Phil to steer him out of the office.

‘I don’t think you’re a monster!’ Miko piped up from behind them.

‘ _Thank you,_ Miko,’ her partner said, wiggling out from under the arm of the manager and fishing his keys from his pocket.

‘Drive safe,’ Phil instructed, locking the front door of the store behind him. ‘Let me know you get home okay.’

‘Yes _dad_ ,’ Mitch said, opening his car with the press of a button.

Miko climbed into the passenger seat while fighting a yawn. Mitch fell into the driver’s seat and let out an explosive sigh.

‘I need a cup of tea,’ he muttered, turning the ignition.

*

Mitch lived in a little unit at the back of a set of six. He unlocked the door with a bit of fumbling and flicked a light on, stepping back to let Miko in first.

‘Mi casa,’ he said, scratching the back of his head. ‘It’s not much but at least I don’t have to share it with my siblings.’

The door opened into the main room, his tv up against the window on the same wall as the door, and the kitchen on the opposite wall. There was an island bench with three wobbly looking barstools, and a squishy couch that looked like he’d fished it out of an op shop. She immediately recognised the ugly lemon curtains in the kitchen from that one time they’d video chatted. Was it really a month ago?

‘Bedroom, bathroom,’ Mitch said, pointing to two doors on the left wall, then at two on the right wall. ‘Laundry, spare room.’

Miko hugged her bag close to her. ‘Where can I put my stuff?’

‘Uh… let me just…’ He ducked around her and opened the bedroom door. ‘I’ll put clean sheets in here and you can crash. Give me a tick.’

‘I can just sleep on the couch,’ she said.

‘No, it’s horrible to sleep on,’ Mitch said, appearing from the laundry with a set of neatly folded sheets. ‘Feel free to make yourself tea or something. I won’t be long.’

Miko dropped her bag down by the couch and wandered into the kitchen. She drank tea very rarely, and even then, it was usually non-caffeinated. Her dad liked herbal teas and green teas, and she’d drink it if she really needed to warm up.

Mitch Williams didn’t have that kind of tea. He had boxes upon boxes of black teas. Breakfast teas, afternoon teas, teas with names stolen from real-life places.

‘Uhh.’ She reached on her tiptoes to pull down a box and opened the lid. Inside was a little bag of loose leaf tea that smelled of cinnamon, vanilla and honey. She breathed in the smell and hummed contentedly. ‘What’s… sticky honey chai?’

‘I’m not making you proper chai tea at two-thirty in the morning,’ Mitch called from the bedroom. ‘There’s a little purple tin by the kettle, just brew that.’

The purple tin had fancy looking teabags in it, with ‘French Earl Grey’ on the tag. Miko set the kettle to boil, found one mug in the sink and rinsed it, but hunted high and low to find a second one.

‘Do you literally only have one mug?’ she laughed, peeking through the cupboards.

‘Really?’ Mitch said with a frown, leaving the bedroom with a bundle of old sheets. ‘Check the top cupboard?’

‘Nope, no mugs.’

‘Oh. Sorry.’ He chucked the dirty fabric into the laundry and stood awkwardly by the counter. ‘I don't really have people over. Go sit down, I’ll make it. At least that way I know it’s done properly.’

‘It’s… tea.’

‘There’s a method,’ he sniffed, lifting his chin defiantly.

Miko slid onto a stool and watched him make the tea. ‘Oh beans, did you just put milk in that?’

‘Just a bit.’

‘Ew.’

‘Just shut up and drink it,’ Mitch said with a snort, pushing the mug across the bench.

Miko sipped at the drink and couldn’t help but pull a face. It wasn’t… awful. ‘Was the milk necessary?’

‘There’s no pleasing you, is there?’ Mitch said with a roll of his eyes, reaching for the mug.

His fingers were warm when they brushed hers, but Miko shoved the thought to the back of her mind. He sipped at the tea and leaned against the counter opposite her.

‘What a night,’ she said, pulling her hair out of its wonky bun.

‘What a night,’ he agreed. Then, he brightened. ‘How did Sky get a map?’

‘Oh my gosh, it was amazing!’ Miko grinned, sitting upright. ‘She literally turned invisible and ripped the map out of the security system.’

‘Honey can shoot a hitbox on the move without even looking,’ Mitch added. ‘And the amount of power-ups Scarlet has in that gauntlet is mind-blowing.’

‘I feel kinda…’ She waved a hand while she searched for the right word. ‘Out of place? Underlevelled?’

‘Why?’ Mitch asked, turning to rinse the mug in the sink.

‘They’re all so good and fast and they’re clearly way higher level than me,’ she sighed, braiding her hair over her shoulder.

Mitch watched her curiously, then frowned. ‘HRO wouldn’t bring you in if they were worried you couldn’t keep up.’

Miko shrugged. ‘Probably. I don’t know.’

The pro-gamer looked at her curiously, like he wanted to say more, but thought better of it. ‘I wouldn't worry about it. The more we work together, the easier it'll get.'

Miko didn't fully believe what he was saying, and instead yawned into the back of her hand.

'Well, not that this isn’t buttloads of fun, but I need to sleep,' Mitch said simply. 'And it looks like you do too.' 

Miko nodded, sliding off the stool and collecting her bag. She watched him drape a thick blanket over the couch from the door to the bedroom.

‘Thanks for letting me stay,’ she said with a smile.

‘No problem. Goodnight.’

‘Night Mitch.’

The bedroom was small, with a double bed shoved up against one corner and a little chest of drawers by the window. Careful not to disturb anything, Miko put her bag down and pulled off her Hinobi uniform. She didn’t have proper pyjamas, just a pair of leggings and an old t-shirt.

Mitch’s bed was unusually soft, much more so than hers. The blanket was thick and fluffy, and the sheets felt nice and clean. She rolled onto her side, facing the door, and all the weariness of the day crashed down over her.

It was like she was suddenly aware of _everything_ that had happened in the last few hours. Her shoulders ached from taking hits, and her wrist was sore from holding up her shield. There was even a hint of smoke in her hair and on her skin.

Her last thought as sleep overtook her mind was that Mitch Williams’ pillow smelled... somewhat pleasant. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew. This chapter was huge. I hope it's okay, and that you like it. I'm kind of half excited and half terrified to post it aha!  
> NOTE: I am taking a real short hiatus because I've seriously neglected my assignments for this fic aha.   
> Please though, in the meantime, come yell with me on Discord, or chat to me on twitter or tumblr.   
> Thank you for reading, I appreciate every one of you. Be safe, take care of yourselves. 
> 
> For anyone wondering:  
> Agent Moss: Green - tall, he/them pronouns  
> Agent Honey: Yellow - tall, she/her pronouns  
> Agent Scarlet: Red - short, he/him pronouns  
> Agent Sky: Blue - itty bitty, very slight, she/her pronouns


	8. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You've all been so patient, especially with my mini hiatus, so have 6k of tooth-rotting fluff.

**CHAPTER EIGHT:** **_AFTERMATH_ **

Miko woke to an overwhelming sense of unfamiliarity. The pillow bunched up in her arms was too thin to be hers; the blanket was too heavy. She’d managed to skew her whole body sideways, which wasn’t possible in her bed, but this one was at least twice as big.

A deep, sleepy breath through her nose had her remembering the events of the previous night.

 _Oh_.

She was in Mitch Williams’ bed. A sliver of light was peeking through a crack in the curtains, indicating that it was still morning, but not too early. The blankets were tangled around her legs, and after rolling over with a grunt, she spied the clock on the nightstand that read 9:28am.

It was early enough that she didn’t feel an immediate need to get out of bed just yet, and so Miko just flopped onto her back and took a few moments to wake up and take in her surroundings.

The room wasn’t exactly what she’d expected from pro-gamer and kind-of-jerk-sometimes-but-less-often-recently Mitch Williams. There were no trophies on the walls like there were at his siblings’ house. There were no weird light strips around the corners of the room, no dark and edgy furniture, or linens.

His bed frame was old and made from a sandy coloured wood, and the linens were a dusty pink colour. The covers were grey, and soft from extended use, and when Miko ran her hands over the fabric she could feel the spots where it had thinned out over the years.

The chest of drawers was wooden as well, similar in colour to the headboard but definitely not matching in design. One of the drawers was missing a handle.

Beside the clock on the bedside table was a metal photo frame – the photo inside was what Miko assumed to be Mitch and his family. He was the smallest, flashing a toothless grin at whoever had taken the photo while his brothers held up rabbit ears for each other and Audrey had her arm thrown around Mitch’s neck. His parents – a large man with a kind smile and crow’s feet and a slight woman with bright orange lipstick – were smiling warmly at the camera.

Miko smiled through a yawn, pulling her hair out of its braid. It felt strange to think of Mitch as having a happy, boisterous family like hers, but she found that she welcomed the thought. The more time she spent with the boy, the more she felt herself warming up to him.

She slid out of the bed and took a quick moment to assess her appearance. Her leggings had a hole in the knee and cat or dog hair all over them, and her shirt was from a gaming convention she’d attended years ago.

Eh. Impressing Mitch Williams wasn’t high on her priority list. It was impossible anyway – nothing was good enough for the guy. 

Miko tied her slightly kinked hair into a ponytail until she could deal with it properly and attempted to flatten her fringe. Her phone was well dead given that she’d passed out pretty quick the night before and forgotten to charge it. Oh well.

She cracked the bedroom door open slightly and peeped through.

Mitch was sitting upright on the couch facing away from her. His hair was slightly mussed from sleep and his shoulders were relaxed while he played the H-Box. She noticed that he wasn’t wearing his headset and was struck dumb by the knowledge that he had actual ears under that thing.

‘Are you going to loiter in the doorway?’ Mitch asked loudly without turning around.

‘How did you hear me?’ she blurted, opening the door all the way.

‘Didn’t have to,’ Mitch said loudly, pausing the game. ‘Saw the door move.’

‘Oh.’

He twisted on the couch to face her. ‘Good morning,’ he offered simply. ‘Tea?’

‘No… thank you,’ Miko said, sliding her socked feet across the hardwood so she could sit beside him. She immediately burst out laughing. ‘Are you wearing cookie pyjamas?’

Mitch scowled half-heartedly at her. ‘Well I couldn’t exactly get to my room,’ he grumbled, looking down at the blue shirt. The cookie across the front was _almost_ as big as his head.

Miko covered her mouth to stifle giggles. ‘That’s… wow. So adorable. Mitch Williams in cookie jim-jams.’

‘Tell no one,’ Mitch said, pointing at her for emphasis.

‘But it’s cuuuute,’ she countered teasingly. ‘I’m sure Zahra would _love_ to know that you’re wearing _cookie pjs_.’

Mitch lifted his chin. ‘Well what about you?’ he asked, eyeing her choice of sleepwear.

Miko looked down at her shirt. ‘What about me?’

‘I thought your dad didn’t game.’

She snorted. ‘We gave my dad MarioKart once and he found a split in the track and just went in circles for the whole race,’ she said with a grin. ‘Didn’t finish a single lap.’

The corner of Mitch’s mouth twitched upwards. ‘What’s with that, then?’

Again, Miko looked down at her shirt. ‘It says World’s Best Gamer Dad,’ she explained.

‘Yes, thank you, I can read,’ he snickered, standing up from the couch. As the blanket fell away from his legs, she noticed the cookie monster on the bottom half of the pjs. ‘Is that your official title?’

‘I worked very hard for this title,’ she replied, flicking her hair over her shoulder dramatically. ‘Many a dad has come for it, but I’m the World’s Best for a reason.’

Mitch laughed – actually laughed – as he filled the kettle and flicked it on. ‘Cute,’ he said with a good-natured roll of his eyes, reaching for the box of teabags.

Miko felt heat crawl up her neck. _Cute._

Squashing it down, she padded over to the counter and slid onto one of the stools in a mirror of how they’d talked the night before. They looked at each other for a moment, trying to navigate this new course in their friendship.

‘This is weird,’ Mitch said eventually, putting the milk in the fridge. ‘It’s weird, isn’t it?’

‘A little,’ Miko said with a shrug. Then she tipped her head back and groaned. ‘How am I going to manage to sneak out every Saturday night from now on?’ 

‘Just say you’ve got a permanent evening shift and that you’ll stay here every week,’ Mitch said, leaning back against the counter.

‘You don’t want me in your house every Saturday night,’ Miko replied, rolling her eyes. ‘And besides, my parents are gonna get sus if I’m staying out _every_ weekend.’

Mitch pointed to the little table by his front door, where he’d chucked his gauntlet band. ‘Just… you know…’ He made a zapping sound.

‘I can’t wipe every Saturday from their brains,’ Miko protested. ‘Who knows what kind of damage it’d do!’

‘Don’t have to wipe the whole day,’ Mitch retorted, bringing his mug to his lips. ‘Just the hour or so when they’re mad at you for staying out all night.’

‘No,’ she grumbled, sliding off the stool. ‘I’m not erasing their minds.’

Miko walked around the counter to open the fridge, her face falling when she realised the shelves were practically empty. A half full bottle of milk sat lonely in the door, and on the shelf at eye-level there was a little tub of butter and one sad apple that had seen better days.

‘No wonder you’re so skinny,’ she commented, closing the door and spinning on her heel.

Mitch was glaring at her, but she could tell he was embarrassed as well. ‘I haven’t been shopping,’ he countered. ‘And I don’t cook much.’

‘What do you eat then?’ Miko asked.

Mitch shrugged, finishing his tea. ‘Take away, usually. Sometimes the old lady next door brings me leftovers.’

‘That’s not exactly healthy,’ she pointed out. ‘You can’t just live on tea and spaghetti in a bucket.’

He groaned, turning to rinse the cup in the sink. ‘Just because I let you in here doesn’t mean you can start criticising my life choices,’ he said over his shoulder.

Miko huffed, blowing her fringe out of her eyes. ‘So, you don’t eat breakfast then?’

‘Rarely.’

‘It’s the most _important_ meal of the-’

‘-day, yeah I’ve heard the spiel before,’ he finished. ‘If we go to the weird café down the road, will you get off my back?’

Miko grinned and nodded.

‘Fine,’ he said, crossing his arms.

‘Are you wearing that?’ Miko grinned, looking pointedly at the cookie shirt.

Mitch flipped her off, which only made her snicker.

*

Mitch wasn’t kidding when he said the café down the road from his little apartment was… well, weird. It had an outdoor seating area in an overgrown garden and mismatched tables and chairs. The garden smelled like fresh dirt and fresh coffee and Miko was lowkey digging the vibe.

She immediately beelined for a heavy wooden table that looked like it might have been a door once, and a squishy leather chair, leaving Mitch with a dining chair that had a wobbly leg. He dropped a stuffed donkey toy with three legs and button eyes down onto the table and sat with a sigh.

‘This place is great,’ Miko grinned, reaching for a menu.

‘If you’re twelve,’ Mitch snorted, leaning back in the chair.

‘Shush,’ she replied, handing him one of the menus as well. To her surprise, he took it without complaint.

He scanned it quickly and put it back down after only a brief moment.

The teenager that came to take their order was still yawning as he approached. ‘Morning. Do you know what you want?’

‘Chai latte and a big breakfast, please,’ Mitch said simply.

‘Sure. And you?’

‘Pancakes with strawberries please,’ Miko said, handing him her menu. ‘And an orange juice.’

The server wrote the order down and disappeared into the main building of the café.

‘No tea?’ Miko asked, leaning back in her squishy chair.

Mitch smirked. ‘Oh padawan,’ he said, voice dripping with condescension. ‘Time for your first lesson.’

Miko rolled her eyes but leaned forward anyway.

‘ _Never_ order tea from places like this,’ Mitch said. ‘Because it’s never right.’

She snorted. ‘You’re such a snob.’

‘And proud of it,’ he replied. ‘It’s not right unless you make it yourself. Also, I hope you’re not planning on making this a regular thing.’

Miko shrugged. ‘I won’t have to if you go buy actual food,’ she told him, reaching for one of the little sugar packets set aside for teas and coffees.

Mitch gave her a funny look for a moment then his shoulders sagged. ‘You’re going to just…’ He waved a hand around while he looked for the word. ‘…upend everything, aren’t you?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I _mean_ ,’ Mitch huffed, leaning back as the server brought back his coffee and her juice. ‘You’re going to start coming over and having tea and eating food and just… shaking up my whole damn life.’

Miko scowled, stabbing her straw into the juice. ‘ _You’re_ the one who offered to let me stay,’ she grumbled. ‘I can just go stay with Five.’

‘I didn’t mean it like that,’ Mitch said, scooping foam from the top of his coffee. ‘I don’t _actually_ care that you’re… y’know. Around. But I’ve been on my own for a year and I’m used to my space.’

‘I can give you space,’ Miko said, twirling ice cubes around the glass. ‘I’m not a monster.’

‘I never said you were.’ Mitch pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. ‘I’m trying, here. I’m not good at being friends with blueberries at this level. Usually it’s a lot more distanced.’

Miko didn’t reply, instead just watching him. He looked uncomfortable, like he wasn’t used to being honest, or vulnerable. She wracked her brains for something to say, something to jumpstart the conversation again, but her mind was stuck in the endless loop of ‘give the guy some space’.

‘So…’ Mitch started, having run out of foam to push around with his spoon. ‘Has Five asked Zahra on a date yet?’

An involuntary groan burst from her chest. ‘ _No_ ,’ she said, tugging on her hair. ‘He’s being a great big _chicken_.’

Mitch laughed, pausing to thank the server that brought them their food.

Miko immediately stabbed one of the fresh strawberries piled on to her plate.

‘He needs to hurry,’ Mitch said with a half-smile. ‘She’s starting to worry that she’s reading into things.’

‘He’s in his own adorable head,’ Miko told him, cutting a triangle of her pancake and taking a bite. They were fluffy and fresh, and she resisted the urge to stuff the whole lot in her mouth at once.

‘Tell him the sooner he does it, the sooner they can be doing their dating thing, and the sooner Zahra will stop talking to me about it,’ Mitch said with the ghost of a fond smile, pointing his fork at her.

‘Poor Zahra just wants her friend to listen and sympathise with her problems, and you sit there and make out like she’s evil incarnate,’ Miko grinned.

‘Zahra knows me well enough to know that I’m not good at the friendship part of being friends,’ Mitch said, reaching across the table to spear one of her strawberries.

Miko quirked an eyebrow. ‘You seem pretty comfortable with me,’ she deadpanned, watching him pop the fruit into his mouth and grin at her.

‘You’re different,’ he said simply. ‘Don’t ask me to explain any further than that, because I can’t.’

‘Is it because you treated Zahra and Haneesh like subordinates, and me like an equal?’

Mitch put a hand on his heart. ‘Have I been treating you as an equal? I’m so sorry to have misled you – I am definitely your superior.’

Miko threw her balled up napkin at him. 

Again, he laughed lightly in response and Miko was pleasantly surprised. How was this any different to her friendship with Five? Sure, there was still some semblance of a barrier between them, but that was crumbling around them. With the additional camaraderie that came from being the only two that knew about the HRO, Miko was – in some ways – closer to Mitch than she was Five.

In some ways. Not all of them.

She couldn’t see Mitch coming to her house to have dinner with her family like Five did or going to Joystick Jnrs to hang out.

‘You’re thinking about something,’ Mitch interrupted. ‘You’re pulling that face.’

‘I have a thinking face?’ Miko asked, recalling he’d once said something similar.

‘Mhm. You get all scrunched up like you’re mentally chasing something,’ Mitch explained, reaching for his nearly empty mug of coffee.

‘Thanks? I guess?’

‘You’re welcome. Must be a perplexing issue for that particularly scrunchy look.’

‘Nah,’ Miko waved a hand. ‘I was just thinking about you.’

Mitch’s fork slipped in his fingers, and he barely caught it before it clattered to his plate. He cleared his throat. ‘Yes, well, I am pretty irresistible,’ he recovered smoothly.

‘Shut up.’ She put her utensils down on her plate and pushed it slightly away. ‘I was just thinking it’s weird that we’re friends.’

‘I never agreed to friends.’

‘I don’t care what you say, we’re friends,’ she pushed, tucking one foot under her opposite thigh. ‘I like being your friend. You’re not so bad when you’re not being a douche.’

Mitch gave her a deadpan look. ‘Wow,’ he said sarcastically. ‘You’re really selling the friendship, Kubota.’

‘You love me,’ she replied, grinning cheekily. ‘I bet you never let Zahra stay over.’

‘She’s never asked,’ Mitch pointed out, mopping up the last of his egg yolk with a scrap of toast.

‘And that’s definitely not because of your _prickly_ personality?’

‘You don’t seem to mind.’

‘You get used to it,’ Miko said. ‘You’re actually a big softie.’

He pulled a face of mock outrage, but amusement won out. ‘You’re annoying.’

‘Yep.’

‘I want a new partner.’

Miko hummed, resting her chin on her hand. ‘Mm, no can do. It’s on the board, see. Can’t be changed til next quarter.’ 

Mitch laughed again, setting his knife and fork neatly in the middle of his plate. ‘Next quarter can’t get here soon enough then.’

She just poked her tongue out at him.

*

The walk back to Mitch’s place was light-hearted and friendly. Anyone watching the two would never guess they were training to be international espionage agents. They’d just see a boy with his hands buried deep in his jacket pockets, playfully putting up with the girl’s antics as she walked in circles around him, sometimes backwards, and ran her hands over fence palings.

As they moseyed, they argued over whether a mage build was better than a strength build, laughed at stories from the retail half of their job, and made fun of the ever-stern Agent Thorn.

When they got back to the unit, Miko packed her things into her bag and Mitch drove her home.

‘Thank you,’ she said with a grin. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’

‘I was gonna play Clash this afternoon,’ Mitch said, leaning across so he could see her through the window. ‘You game?’

‘Are you streaming it?’

‘Probably.’

‘Sure,’ she said with a shrug. ‘I could definitely kill some stuff.’

She watched his car pull out of her street then turned back to the house. Weariness crashed down on her shoulders, still sore from the HRO shenanigans.

Mayumi greeted her at the door. ‘Was that Mitch I saw?’

‘Yeah, he offered to drop me home,’ Miko said with a yawn, dumping her bag at the foot of the stairs.

She rested her head on her mum’s collarbone, earning herself a hug in return.

‘Are you hungry?’

‘No, I had breakfast,’ Miko said. ‘I think I’m just gonna shower. Maybe have some of Dad’s herbal tea.’

Miko stood still while her mother kissed her forehead, then dragged her bag upstairs. The hot water of the shower unwound her muscles, and she pushed her soaked fringe back off her face so she could wash it properly.

Once she was dressed in fresh clothes and had towel-dried her hair, her mum brought up a steaming mug of ginger and lemon tea.

‘Thank you,’ Miko hummed, reaching for the mug.

Mayumi draped the wet hair towel over the back of Miko’s desk chair then sat down.

‘I know you don’t want to talk about it,’ she began, putting a gentle hand on her daughter’s stripey socked foot. ‘But I want you to know that, even though we tease you, we want you to be happy and safe and comfortable.’

Miko felt heat crawl up her neck and sipped at her tea. ‘He’s just a friend,’ she said quietly.

‘I know,’ Mayumi said with a smile. ‘But if not him, then someone else might come along and I want you to feel like you can come to me. Boys, girls… whatever you have questions about, I’m here to help you.’

‘Oh, Mama please,’ Miko groaned, hiding her face behind a hand. ‘I don’t like anyone like that.’

‘That’s okay,’ her mum said. ‘One day you might, and I just want you to know you can talk to me about anything.’

‘Thanks mum,’ Miko said, fighting to show her mum she appreciated it, even though she wanted nothing more than to sink through the bed, and the floor, and disappear forever.

‘If you’re playing games, remember you’re on dinner duty tonight, so not too late!’

‘Ugh, fine.’

*

Mitch Williams had planned his life down to the very last detail. His schedule, his exp goals, his eventual promotions up through the Rose Order until he was basically running the place.

And yet, Miko Kubota had crashed into his life and now everything was in a tizzy.

He was in a supermarket, her words about his terrible eating habits crashing around in his skull. How hard could it be to cook for himself, honestly?

He chucked a packet of pasta into his basket, as well as some sauce, and some eggs. Surely even he couldn’t screw up eggs.

*

See, now, this was just ridiculous.

When Miko had been here, his apartment had that little buzz of life. Now it was back to being quiet and flat and he grumbled as he put away his few precious groceries. Irritated with everything – probably from his poor night’s sleep on that god-awful couch – Mitch boiled the kettle and made tea in his only mug.

How _did_ he only have one mug?

His siblings had been to visit, surely they had- oh. _Ohh_.

A vague memory of Ruf and Speck wrestling each other into his cabinet floated to the forefront of his mind, the cheap china crashing to the floor.  
  


> **MitchWilliams:** you lot owe me new mugs

> **Audrey:** m8
> 
> **Audrey:** that was months ago
> 
> **MitchWilliams:** I need more than one mug, Aud
> 
> **Audrey:** do you have someone to drink tea with now little brother
> 
> **Audrey:** wait do you
> 
> **Audrey:** TELL ME
> 
> **MitchWilliams** : no
> 
> **Audrey:** how is it that even over text you’re a rubbish liar
> 
> **MitchWilliams:** just replace my stuff
> 
> **Audrey:** u suck  
>   
> 

Mitch just snorted and shoved his phone into his pocket. He loved his sister a lot – since Ruf and Speck were twins, he and Aud had always teamed up against their brothers. He briefly considered mentioning Miko, even if he couldn’t totally understand his relationship with his work partner.

She was almost like a tentative friend… they got along fine when alone but when others were thrown in the mix it just became awkward. He knew Aud would blow that out of proportion.

He’d also considered talking to Zahra about it, but he knew she’d jump to conclusions too, and bother him about it, so that plan also got thrown out.

The only other person he’d talk to about this kind of thing might be Miko, which for obvious reasons wasn’t plausible. So, Mitch Williams drank his tea in his empty home and he silently seethed on his own. 

He nearly spilled tea on himself as he stomped to his gaming room and set up his streaming rig.

‘Afternoon Mitch fans,’ he said tiredly to the camera. ‘Lazy Clash streaming with ME-K.O today. Don’t expect anything fantastic.’

As his chat slowly started to gain traction, Mitch loaded the main screen. There was a game request and a message waiting for him.

> **ME-K.O:** tick tock boosh man
> 
> **ME-K.O:** some of us need to make dinner for the family
> 
> **MitchFTW:** sorry
> 
> **MitchFTW:** I was doing the dishes
> 
> **ME-K.O:** liar
> 
> **ME-K.O:** you only have one dish

Mitch snorted, adjusting his headset. Tentative friend or not, at least she knew how to make him laugh. 

*

> **MitchWilliams:** TIL you can burn pasta
> 
> **ME-K.O:** dude how

*

Miko felt like someone had taken hold of her head and shaken it up until her brains were scrambled eggs. She hadn’t spoken to Five in over 24 hours, she’d been for a totally normal breakfast with Mitch Williams, _she’d been recruited into a top-secret spy agency and she couldn’t tell anyone about it_.

Life was a little topsy turvy, and she was desperate for some sense of normalcy.

Normalcy was apparently sitting on her roof at 10pm, using Ally as a pillow while she typed out a text to Five.

> **ME-K.O:** hey can we hang out this week?
> 
> **ME-K.O:** I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages

She rested her phone on her chest and sighed, looking up at the sky. There were a few little stars, but those not blocked out by light pollution were hidden by clouds. It was cold enough that she’d pulled on a pair of cat-face socks and her big fluffy pink jumper, but not so cold that the wind bit at her skin.

Everything just felt like it had changed, and she wasn’t keeping up.

The Hinobi Rose Order wanted every Saturday night until she either passed or failed their training. She missed her best friend. Her mum was trying to talk to her about boys and girls and growing up and she just wanted to bury her face in her pillow and pretend she was just a normal glitch tech, with normal friends, and a normal life.

Her phone buzzed against her skin and she answered it by clicking the speaker on her headphones.

‘Dude, I miss you,’ she said, fluffing up her fringe.

‘ _I literally saw you today_ ,’ came Mitch’s voice, and embarrassment sank into the pit of Miko’s stomach like a stone.

‘Oh shit, sorry.’

‘ _You thought I was Five, didn’t you?_ ’

‘Yeah. My bad.’

‘ _Do you want me to let you go?_ ’

‘No,’ Miko said, sitting up. Ally cracked open an eye lazily, lifting her head to make sure her human was okay. ‘It’s alright, are you okay?’

‘ _Yeah,_ ’ Mitch replied, and she heard him lean back in his squeaky computer chair. ‘ _I was just thinking about something and I wanted your opinion._ ’

Miko quirked an eyebrow and settled back against Ally, petting her companion’s feathers. ‘You wanted _my_ opinion?’

‘ _Yes, don’t read too much into it_.’

She could almost hear him roll his eyes at her.

‘My infinite wisdom is at your disposal,’ she said with a grin, tucking her knees closer to her chest.

‘ _I was thinking about HRO and our helmets,_ ’ he said. ‘ _And I was wondering if Nameless was a Rose Agent_.’

Miko hummed, tugging the ends of her sleeves over her hands. ‘I was thinking that too.’

‘ _How else would he get hold of one?_ ’

‘Unless it’s a game drop they’ve repurposed,’ Miko suggested with a yawn. ‘But we were told not to wear it outside of the training facility.’

‘ _So Nameless is either a top tier agent, or he’s a rogue ex-Rose._ ’

Miko chuckled softly. ‘You really think they’d let someone go rogue with one of their fancy helmets?’

 _‘Probably not_ ,’ Mitch said with a sigh. ‘ _Unless he was really good_.’ 

Miko pondered this for a moment, looking out at her quiet street. A cat was balancing on one of her neighbour’s fences, and one of the streetlights was flickering every few seconds.

‘ _Sorry, I probably interrupted something._ ’

‘No,’ Miko said quickly. ‘I was just sitting on the roof.’

‘ _Waiting for Five to call?_ ’

She laughed. ‘I sent him a message about hanging out this week. I feel like I haven’t seen him since the teams changed up.’

‘ _That’s fair enough._ ’

‘But you’re my friend too,’ she told him. ‘And I guess I don’t mind talking to you instead.’

‘ _I’m flattered,_ ’ he said sarcastically. ‘ _And not very good at talking.’_

‘You’re doing fine,’ she said with a grin. ‘So… what’re you doing?’

 _‘Talking to you._ ’

‘Ha-ha,’ she huffed. ‘Well, since you asked _so_ nicely. I’m sitting on my roof with Ally.’

‘ _Is that your big dumb bird’s name?_ ’

‘She’s not a big dumb bird!’ Miko cried. ‘She’s the bestest birdy in the whole world!’

Ally trilled happily in response, and Miko heard Mitch laugh through her headphones.

‘ _Why are you and Ally the not-dumb bird sitting on the roof? Is that even safe?’_

‘Yeah, I just climb out my window. Totally safe.’

‘ _Don’t fall off. Or else I’ll have to join Nix and Bergy’s team and I can’t handle that, Miko._ ’

She giggled at the thought. ‘Poor Bergy would quit if he had to put up with you all day,’ she grinned.

‘ _I’m not that bad_.’

‘You can be,’ she pointed out.

Mitch made a grumbly noise she couldn’t decipher. ‘ _Everyone’s a critic,_ ’ he settled on.

‘What’re you _actually_ doing?’ Miko asked, moving the conversation away from the fact that everyone thought her partner was a douche.

‘ _Reading back some of the comments on my stream from earlier._ ’

‘And?’

‘ _They like you. They think you’re funny._ ’

‘I’m hilarious,’ Miko snorted. ‘And you’re welcome.’

‘ _Don’t let all the fame go to your head,_ ’ Mitch warned. ‘ _It makes you an arse._ ’

‘Is that coming from personal experience?’

‘ _Yes_.’ 

Miko snickered, leaning back against Ally and looking up at the sky. ‘Say what you will, Mitch Williams. I’m glad we’re partners.’

 _‘Are you getting all feelings-y on me, Kubota?_ ’

‘Yes,’ she said with a nod that he couldn’t see. And because they were on the phone, she boldly added: ‘Because you seem… I dunno. Lonely? Feels like you need a friend.’

On the other end of the line, Mitch was silent.

‘Too feelings-y?’ she pressed.

‘ _N-no… it’s fine.’_ A beat. ‘ _You’re not a terrible partner._ ’

‘Thank you,’ she said with a pleased grin.

‘ _Is this how you and Five became friends? You just decided it and he had to go along with it?’_

‘Something like that,’ she said with a shrug. ‘He’s never told me he regrets it, and he still keeps me around, so I guess it worked. 

‘ _I guess it did_ ,’ he repeated, and his chair squeaked in the background again. ‘ _I’ll let you know if I ever start to regret becoming friends with you then?_ ’

‘Please don’t.’ Miko stifled a yawn with the back of her hand. ‘I don’t think my ego could take it.’

‘ _I’ll remember that,_ ’ he told her, a hint of fondness in his tone. ‘ _I should probably let you get back to starwatching_.’

‘I’m probably going to go to bed,’ she replied. ‘The uh… late night shift was rough.’

‘ _We’ll get used to it._ ’

‘I don’t know if I want to.’

Mitch snickered. ‘ _Sorry for interrupting your roof time._ ’

‘It’s okay. I just like seeing if I can find any stars,’ Miko said. ‘But it’s a cloudy night tonight.’

‘ _Do you do that a lot?’_

‘Sure. The sky is endless. There’re whole worlds out there. Kids who bullied me used to call me a space case. I know what that means, but I liked to pretend they were just like… Miko has her head in the stars.’ 

Mitch was quiet again, and insecurity built in her chest the longer the silence stretched. Maybe they weren’t those kinds of friends. 

‘ _Well that’s shit.’_

A laugh bubbled up her throat. ‘Yeah,’ she said with a grin. ‘An unfortunate downside to being the weird new kid in town.’

‘ _You’re not that weird,_ ’ he told her, voice wavering slightly. ‘ _No more than the rest of us_.’

‘You’re saying the rest of the techs are weird too?’

‘ _You disagree?’_

Miko looked down at her phone, his name lit up on the screen. A surge of affection rose in her chest, and she couldn’t fight a smile. ‘No,’ she said, resting her chin on her hand. ‘You’re right.’

‘ _Of course I am. I’m Mitch Williams._ ’

Miko rolled her eyes. ‘Well, Mitch Williams. I’m going to bed.’

‘ _Good idea. I’ll see you at work tomorrow._ ’

‘Goodnight,’ she said.

‘ _Goodnight blueberry.’_ And his name disappeared from her screen as he ended the call.

Miko used her gauntlet to de-rez Ally and dismissed the whole piece into a bracelet. And it was lucky she did, because a little tap on her window half a minute later made her jump. Her mum lifted open the window and leaned out with a warm smile.

‘Who’re you talking to?’ she asked. The look in her eyes told Miko that she already knew the answer.

‘Mitch,’ she said, looking back up at the stars.

Mayumi was probably smilingly knowingly at her, inferring things that weren’t true.

‘Well it’s getting late and Lex needs to go to bed. Can you come in?’ her mother said instead.

Miko nodded. ‘Give me five minutes.’

‘Five minutes,’ Mayumi agreed.

Miko checked her phone and found a message from Five.

> **ME-K.O:** hey can we hang out this week?
> 
> **ME-K.O:** I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages

> **  
> HI5:** yesss
> 
> **HI5:** games and food after work tomorrow?
> 
> **ME-K.O:** please I need my bff
> 
> **HI5:** you okay?
> 
> **ME-K.O:** idk. probably.

She tucked the device into her bra and carefully picked her way across the roof tiles to her window, climbing into her room. 

All Miko really wanted was to talk to Five. But what would she even say? There was so much turmoil going around and around in her mind that sleep felt impossible. And Mitch being _nice_ to her and saying _nice_ things and just generally just being a supportive force in her life was… ugh.

She could scream.

*

Sleep did not come easily for Miko, and her (Lexi’s) alarm woke her well before she was ready. In a sleepy daze she showered, forgot breakfast, and got herself dressed for work.

She barely heard her mum call her back when she forgot her lunch, and for the first time since she and Mitch had started getting along, Miko really didn’t want to go to work.

She shoved her things into her locker with a grumble, and when she slammed it shut, Mitch was leaning against the one down from her. A yelp burst from her and she spun away from him.

‘Oh _beans_ , don’t do that,’ she breathed, pushing her fringe back.

‘Sorry,’ he laughed, a glitter in his eye telling her that he wasn’t sorry at all. ‘We’re on counter today.’

‘Thank Nogrog,’ she sighed, shoulders sinking. ‘I didn’t sleep a wink last night.’

‘Up all night thinking about the stars?’ he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

‘Something like that,’ she said, taking her headset off and putting it in her locker.

Mitch sipped at his coffee cup – she recognised the logo from the drive through place he liked – and held up a bag.

‘For me?’ she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

‘They were on special, don’t think about it too much,’ he replied with a roll of his eyes.

Miko opened the paper bag and let out a delighted peal of laughter. ‘Raspberry and white chocolate?’ she asked.

‘It’s just a muffin,’ Mitch reminded her. ‘Calm down.’

Without any thought for who might be watching, Miko threw her arms around her partner and hugged him tight. Mitch’s whole body tensed, one arm holding his coffee out of the way and the other hand hovering just by her back.

‘Thank you,’ she said softly.

Mitch patted her awkwardly on the back. ‘I’m never buying you anything again,’ he told her.

Miko laughed and let him go, picking at the muffin in the bag. It was soft and fresh, and she melted a little at the thought of him thinking of her as he ordered.

With a new spring in her step, Miko made her way to the main part of the store.

*

Mitch watched her walk through the doors with a strange sense of accomplishment, fighting a smile.

‘I saw that,’ came Zahra’s voice, tinged with amusement.

‘No, you didn’t,’ he replied immediately, turning to face her with his arms crossed.

‘You’re going soft, Williams,’ she grinned. ‘It’s kinda nice to watch.’

Mitch popped his collar and sipped his coffee. ‘I don’t know what you’re referring to, Z,’ he said simply. ‘Don’t you have glitches to catch?’

Zahra just winked and walked through the glowing portal to HQ, and he had an overwhelming feeling that she knew something he didn’t.

Chucking his empty cup in the bin, the incredible Mitch Williams rearranged his swagger in place and followed his _slightly_ endearing space case partner into the store for a day’s work. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please remember a lil kudos or comment goes a long way, come scream Mitchko with me on socials and I hope you're all staying safe and well.  
> COOKIE SHIRT IS NOW RT CANON - This is Jay's creation, she's the Mitchko queen yall. When s3 drops Mitch better have his cookie shirt or I will cry.  
> I'll probably be slowing my update schedule a little as I'm tacking study as well but I promise to keep working on this fic and delivering chapters whenever I can.


	9. Closer Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the delay. Life is kicking my ass. Between assignments, work and just general life stress, this chapter has been an uphill slog.

**CHAPTER NINE:** **_CLOSER  
PART ONE_**

****

Five’s house had always been a sort of sanctuary for Miko. Unlike her house, it was quiet. He had his own space that he didn’t have to share with any siblings, and his grandparents were always nearby with food or a kind word or a reminder that playing video games upside down isn’t good for your brain.

And Miko needed some time away from Hinobi, and her home, and her work partner. So, they were on Five’s bed playing a game that involved pirate ghosts and buried treasure, Five sitting cross legged while Miko played upside down (much to Abuela’s dismay).

‘Why can I never do this level on my own?’ Five grumbled. ‘You’d think being a tech would mean I was _good_ at video games, but this stupid pirate gets me every time.’

Miko just giggled, tapping at the controller buttons with practiced ease. ‘Easy there padawan. Use the force. Search for the pattern. Kill the undead pirate.’

‘You make it sound so easy,’ Five grumbled, chucking his controller lightly onto his pillow and falling back onto his bed.

Without her partner playing, Miko made a deliberately poor sidestep and her character got taken out by a ghostly blade.

**T R Y A G A I N ?**

She left the option screen to hum to itself and readjusted her position so that they were eye to eye.

‘What’s got you so down?’ she asked, poking him gently on the cheek. ‘And don’t say Ghostiebeard, because you’ve been funny all day.’

‘I don’t know,’ Five huffed. ‘I feel bad because I haven’t been able to hang out with you in ages and when I get the chance, I’m all grumpy. It’s rubbish.’

Miko stroked her non-existent beard as she listened. ‘Have you considered that you just… don’t like me anymore, and being in my presence is just painful now?’

Five laughed. ‘You’re so right. How did I not notice it before?’

Miko giggled and rolled onto her back, the two of them now looking up at Five’s glow in the dark ceiling stars. This was perfect. Exactly what she needed. Stupid time with her best friend.

‘I miss you,’ Five said simply. ‘We don’t get to work together at all anymore, and our shifts are all different, and you do that… night shift, or whatever… on Saturdays now.’

Miko nodded, holding out a hand. Five slipped his fingers between hers and they held tight.

‘I miss you too,’ she replied, voice quiet.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked, the two of them still staring at the glow in the dark stars. ‘You sounded really off last night.’

‘I was texting you; how can you even tell?’

‘Best friend spidey senses.’

She snickered, then let out a long breath through her nose. ‘If you had a really big secret, would you tell me?’

‘Depends on the secret,’ Five replied after a moment of thinking. ‘But I’d trust you not to tell anyone else.’

‘What if the secret could cause me problems?’ she asked, her voice sticking. ‘And everyone else, too?’

‘Is this about Mitch?’ Five asked.

‘Huh?’

‘Do you like… _like_ Mitch, or something? Because he’s _definitely_ gotten more bearable since you started working together, and we wouldn’t think poorly of you or anything-’

Miko threw an arm over her eyes as she started to laugh. Five sat up and watched her, fighting a grin.

‘So that’s a no?’ Five prodded. ‘You don’t like Mitch?’

‘I mean, I like Mitch just fine,’ she said, sitting up and hugging her knees. ‘He’s a good partner, surprisingly. And he’s kinda funny when he’s not being a butthole.’

‘But you don’t wanna like… kiss him, or anything?’

‘ _No_ , oh beans please no,’ she said, laughing. Heat crawled up her neck at the mere thought. 

Five swivelled so that he was facing her side, one long leg draped off the edge of the bed and his hands in his lap. His expression turned from giddy to gentle, and he reached out and took her hand again.

‘You don’t have to tell me anything,’ he said. ‘But if you need help, I want you to know that I’ll help you. You’re my best friend, Meeks, and I don’t like the idea of you struggling with something on your own.’

Miko spun so that their knees were touching. ‘If I tell you, you could lose all your memories,’ she said quietly.

‘Then tell me, and erase them yourself,’ Five suggested. ‘Then I’ll have no idea, but you’ll be able to get it off your chest.’

Miko gave him a light shove. ‘I’m not going to do that.’

‘How bout I guess? And then you _technically_ didn’t tell me anything,’ he grinned.

Well _that_ was infallible logic, and she couldn’t argue with it.

Five jumped off the bed, requesting a few minutes to think and also get them more snacks.

Miko tugged at a stray thread on her socks while thoughts tumbled around in her mind. Her phone buzzing brought her back to the present.

> **MitchWilliams:** how much do u love me

She snorted, the conversation with Five temporarily pushed to the back of her mind.

> **ME-K.O:** nowhere near as much as you love yourself
> 
> **ME-K.O:** what you you want
> 
> **MitchWilliams:** lol
> 
> **MitchWilliams:** you you
> 
> **ME-K.O:** don’t mock people when youre asking them favours
> 
> **MitchWilliams:** stream later?
> 
> **MitchWilliams:** theyre flooding my comments
> 
> **ME-K.O:** lol
> 
> **ME-K.O:** I’m hanging out with Five tonight but later this week?
> 
> **MitchWilliams:** deal

‘Why are you grinning?’ Five asked, handing her a tall glass with a stripey straw.

‘No reason,’ she said quickly, looking up.

‘Okay, you can tell me to stop at any time,’ Five said, sitting beside her on the bed again. ‘The only changes I can think of recently are that you were paired with Mitch. Does he have anything to do with all this?’

Miko just nodded, holding her phone close to her chest.

‘Okay… is he… I mean… does he know about all this?’

‘Yeah,’ she said quietly. ‘He knows all of it.’

Five scratched his chin. ‘Did he- I mean… did he do something to you?’ he asked, almost like he was afraid of the answer.

‘No!’ Miko said quickly, raising a hand. ‘No, no of course not. He’s on my side, it’s his secret too.’

Five’s shoulders visibly relaxed. ‘Oh, that’s good to hear.’

‘He’s been… really good about it all,’ she offered. ‘Like he doesn’t see it as a huge _burden_ , but he’s been trying to make it easy for me.’

‘Good,’ Five said firmly. ‘So, you and Mitch share a secret, and apparently you’re _not_ making out. So… something to do with work?’

Miko sighed. ‘The pink visor,’ she said with a huff. ‘Corporate is watching us, and we’re doing extra training every Saturday night.’

‘Why?’ Five asked, also dropping his voice.

She felt a wave of excitement as she patted his knee. ‘I don’t know,’ she said, grinning. ‘But I get cool new gear and a fancy helmet and there’s a squad of other Agents and I’ve only done _one_ session and I’m kinda hooked!’

Five blinked as he took in the new information.

‘Mitch is our squad leader and we finished at like two in the morning, which is why neither of us work on Sundays anymore, so I had to go crash at his place and-’

‘You’ve been to his _house_?’

‘Yes, yeah. It’s nothing special don’t get excited,’ she babbled, unable to stop now that she’d started talking about HRO. ‘But I’m so _worried_ because everything is _changing_ and I don’t know if I can keep up with it, and my mum keeps asking if I’m interested in Mitch because she knows you’re my only friend and I couldn’t possibly have _two_ friends, but it’s also just scary to be sixteen and have everything all… upsey-daisy.’

Five nodded along sagely, eventually opening his arms.

Miko fell against his shoulder, briefly wondering why he was so bony, but then he was hugging her tight.

‘Sorry everything’s all upsey-daisy,’ he said quietly.

‘You’re the best,’ she replied. ‘But I already told you way too much.’

Five grinned. ‘You’re lucky I take my secret keeping missions _very seriously_.’

‘What would I do without you?’ 

‘Suffer. Greatly.’ 

*

‘Are you glued to that thing?’ Hugh asked his daughter, reaching over to pluck the wooden spoon from her hand.

‘Sorry,’ she mumbled, not looking up from her phone. ‘I’m doing it, I am.’

‘It’s burning,’ Hugh pointed out, stirring the onions in the pan. They weren’t burning, but it was the principle of the thing, she supposed. ‘You’re meant to be making dinner, not chatting to Five.’

‘Why does everything think Five is my only friend,’ Miko grumbled, putting her phone on the counter, and pushing her dad aside with a bump of her hip. ‘I have other friends.’

‘Oh, Mitch then?’ Hugh said, turning down the heat. ‘Your mother says he’s a nice boy.’

Miko rolled her eyes. ‘Mama spoke to him for all of two minutes,’ she said, taking the spoon and shaking the pan a little. ‘And I don’t know why it matters.’

Hugh patted her on the head, and she couldn’t help but sigh.

‘Please just let me have friends without making it weird,’ she said, looking up at her dad with tired eyes.

‘Oh pet,’ Hugh replied, moving his hand to her shoulder. ‘I’m sorry. I’ll talk to your mum.’

‘Thanks, Dad,’ she said with a half-smile, letting him pull her into a hug.

‘Can I trust you with dinner, or are you going to burn the house down because you’re too busy texting?’

‘No promises,’ Miko said with a grin.

‘Well, just in case,’ Hugh picked up her phone and moved it to the kitchen table. He couldn’t help but glance at the screen, where messages from Mitch were piling up.

> **MitchWilliams:** just order pizza
> 
> **MitchWilliams:** miko
> 
> **MitchWilliams:** come on I’m so ducking bored

‘Tell Mitch to watch his language,’ he added.

‘Dad!’ Miko said, throwing a tea-towel after him, red-faced. ‘Don’t read my messages!’

Her father chuckled as he disappeared into the living room. Miko raced to the table and snatched up her phone, then shoved it in her bra.

No one was reading _any_ messages while it was in _there_ , she thought triumphantly, adding the next ingredient to the pan for their dinner.

*

Mitch was sitting on his couch, staring at the television, and contemplating how his life had gone to shit.

Well maybe that was a tad harsh.

But his life had definitely gone from comfortable to _oh boosh what is happening_ in a manner of months.

‘Bruv,’ called Speck, holding up his one remaining mug with a single finger through the handle. ‘Are we sharing? Where’s the rest?’

‘You smashed them all,’ Mitch replied, wincing at the thought of his last mug joining its brothers in pieces. ‘Remember?’

‘Well yeah,’ Speck said, swinging the mug from side to side. ‘But that was _months_ ago. I figured you’d have replaced them by now.’

‘Leave him alone,’ Aud grumbled, flopping onto the couch with enough force that Mitch’s butt lifted an inch in the air. She slung an arm around his shoulders. ‘Why are you so grumpy, little brother?’

‘You’re in my house, _uninvited_ ,’ Mitch began, leaning his head on her shoulder. ‘When you have an _enormous_ telly at your place.’

‘Yeah, but it’s not the same without you,’ Aud told him, poking him on the nose. ‘And we’ll even forgive you for the complete lack of tea.’

‘There can be tea,’ Mitch pointed out. ‘Just one at a time. And I get preference.’

The two looked over their shoulders to Speck, still holding the last mug. The bigger blonde just grinned and ran his tongue all around the edge of the cup.

‘Mine now,’ he grinned.

Mitch made a noise of disgust. Now he could never touch the stupid mug again.

‘Your phone’s buzzing,’ Audrey pointed out, gesturing with her chin to the coffee table.

The youngest Williams leaned forward to snatch his phone before she could look at it. Not that his phone showed his messages, but his passcode had been the same since he was twelve and he didn’t doubt that Aud could crack it without any issue.

> **ME-K.O:** are we playing or what
> 
> **MitchWilliams:** nope
> 
> **MitchWilliams:** sibs came over to watch a football game
> 
> **MitchWilliams:** rip my last mug
> 
> **ME-K.O:** did they break it
> 
> **MitchWilliams:** it’s only a matter of time

Mitch huffed and shoved his phone into his pocket.

‘Got somefink to tell us, little bruv?’ Ruf asked, exiting Mitch’s bedroom with a fluffy pink jumper in his hand. He held it up for everyone to see.

‘I don’t know what you’re inferring,’ Mitch deadpanned, trying to quash a sense of panic rising in his chest.

‘Well either, you’re wearing fluffy jumpers,’ Ruf began, chucking the item of clothing to his little brother. ‘Which is cool, whatever, you do you. Or you’ve had a _lady friend_ over and you didn’t tell us.’

Mitch scowled, bundling the fluff up and holding it to his chest. ‘ _Either answer_ is none of your business,’ he replied. ‘What are you doing in my room anyway?’

Ruf held up a pair of socks triumphantly. ‘Stepped in the water on your kitchen floor!’

‘ _Why is there water on my kitchen floor_?’ Mitch cried, half sitting up from his position on the couch.

Speck just waved innocently, making a show of dropping a tea towel to the ground to mop up whatever mess he’d made.

Mitch grumbled and sunk further into his couch cushions, hugging the jumper close. Stupid Miko, leaving _evidence_ around. She probably did it on purpose. Stupid piece of cloth, upending everything. Making his siblings question him. The audacity.

Aud reached out and rubbed the fabric between her fingers. ‘It’s so soft,’ she complimented.

‘Mhm,’ Mitch mumbled, swinging himself around on the couch so that he was facing the tv. ‘When does this game start?’

‘In about three hours.’

Mitch threw his hands in the air, the jumper tumbling dramatically to the floor. ‘Why are you here _now_ then?’

‘Pre-game!’ Ruf cried, hands in the air.

‘And we haven’t seen you in ages,’ Speck added, coming to sit on the floor beside the couch, his back pressed up against Mitch’s legs.

Mitch sighed. He loved his family, really, he did. But _boosh_ they had no concept of personal space.

*

When he was little, Mitch’s family would always stay up to watch the football, even after they moved to the States and the time difference made it tricky.

He usually fell asleep in the second half and would wake up in his bed the next morning - his siblings eagerly waiting to recount the rest of the match for him.

As he’d grown older, he’d been able to stay awake, and the morning recaps went away, instead replaced by quieter, but no less excited, analysis. Even as Aud moved from a dining table participant to yelling her opinions from the kitchen while _she_ made the pancakes or the eggs or the bacon, she always tried to keep the post-game discussion a tradition in their little family.

Mitch woke up on his couch with Miko’s fluffy pink jumper draped over him like a blanket, and his doona wrapped around his legs. A beam of sunlight came through a crack in his curtains where it assaulted his eyes, and he groaned.

He’d obviously fallen asleep before the game had finished, and his family had let themselves out. The jumper was all bunched up around his face and it _smelled_ like her. Mitch sat upright and threw it across the room. His apartment was surprisingly clean, and his phone told him it was just after eight in the morning. Which meant that his sister would be at his door at any moment.

The knock came just as he was throwing a teabag in the bin.

‘Come in,’ he called, and Aud let herself into the apartment.

‘Morning sleepyhead,’ she grinned, holding up a paper bag.

‘Good morning,’ he replied, accepting whatever she’d brought him. ‘No twins?’

‘Nah, they’ve gone to see dad,’ she replied with a wave. ‘It’s been ages since you’ve been to see him.’

‘I work a lot,’ Mitch replied simply, unwrapping the bacon and egg sandwich from the bag.

His sister levelled him with a look, and he sighed.

‘I’ll try and see him this week.’

‘Thank you,’ she said, grinning. ‘You conked out last night.’

‘I work… _a lot_ ,’ Mitch repeated with more emphasis. ‘We can’t all just play games all day and get paid for it.’

‘You could,’ Aud said with a mouthful of egg sandwich. ‘You were everyone’s favourite.’

‘Naturally,’ he grinned in reply. ‘I’m Mitch Williams.’

‘I’m Aud Williams,’ his sister replied. ‘You can’t use my own name to one up me, bruv.’

Mitch grumbled something unintelligible around his breakfast and leaned against the counter.

Aud dragged one of the barstools out, ignoring the screech of the feet against the floor, and sat down. She tapped her short fingernails against the counter. ‘So…’

‘Spit it out,’ Mitch prodded, scrunching up the sandwich wrapper in his fist.

‘The jumper.’

‘What about it?’

‘ _Are_ you seeing someone?’ Aud asked, tightening her green ponytail.

‘No,’ he answered, looking her dead in the eye as if challenging her to fight him on it. ‘A friend came over. She left it here. Nothing to read into.’

‘Okay,’ his sister shrugged.

Mitch stared at her. ‘That’s… it? You’re just letting it go?’

‘Would you tell me anything even if I pushed it?’ Aud asked.

‘Probably not.’

She just gave him a look that said _well there you go_.

Mitch chewed on his thoughts for half a second, downing the last of his tea.

‘So… you have a _friend_ now,’ Audrey asked, and Mitch rolled his eyes.

‘I have friends.’

‘You have lackeys, there’s a difference,’ Aud pointed out.

‘Zahra’s my friend.’

‘Zahra tolerates you at best. And she definitely wouldn’t be over here, _and_ she doesn’t strike me as the fluffy pink jumper type.’

Well, he couldn’t argue with that. ‘I have more than one friend,’ he said instead.

‘What’s her name?’

‘Miko.’

‘Have I met her?’

‘Yes.’

‘Purple hair? Lots of attitude?’

‘…yes.’

Aud clapped her hands together. ‘She seems fun! Is she your new Clash buddy?’

‘Well, if you morons hadn’t decided to beat me in the last challenge,’ Mitch began, irritation creeping into his voice. ‘I wouldn’t have had to team up with her.’

‘You’re welcome.’

Mitch scoffed.

‘But you _won_ ,’ Aud continued with a grin, reaching forward to grab his hands. ‘Which means you work well together.’

‘We do,’ Mitch said with a frown. ‘What’s that got to do with anything?’

Aud blinked a few times, then let his hands slide from hers. ‘I mean… it doesn’t _mean_ anything,’ she said eventually. ‘Just an observation.’

‘Do not embarrass me,’ Mitch said, pointing a finger at his older sister. ‘We may be just friends but even that’s…. tentative.’

Aud held up two hands in surrender. ‘Wouldn’t dream of it, little mish,’ she said. ‘You know we just worry about you.’

Mitch rolled his eyes so hard his head followed the movement. ‘You don’t _have_ to worry about me,’ he said, frustration creeping into his voice. ‘I’m a grown ass adult. I can look after myself.’

‘You’ve been 18 for less than three months don’t give me that crap,’ Aud replied. ‘You really need to replace your china though. Do you and Miko share the one, lonely tea mug when she comes over?’

Mitch’s face burned with embarrassment.

‘Oh bruv. You got a long way to go.’

‘It wasn’t exactly a _planned_ visit, it was one time,’ he countered, voice rising. ‘She was just gonna crash here the night, I didn’t think I’d need a host of bloody teacups for that.’

Aud was grinning at him, and his defensiveness coupled with his earlier humiliation was just making Mitch angry.

‘Shut up,’ he snapped, running his hands through his hair. There was an ache in his neck from sleeping on that crappy couch. ‘Why are you here, anyway.’

‘You missed the last bit of the game. We won, by the way. Stellar goal from that new kid...’ She snapped her fingers while she tried to think of the player’s name. ‘Can’t remember. But it was great. I’m amazed we didn’t wake you with all the shouting.’

As Aud launched into a play-by-play of the game, Mitch’s emotions never stopped whirling around in his head.

Truth be told, he wasn’t listening to her.

He was thinking about how his sister could take him down with a few well-chosen words. Embarrassment wasn’t an emotion he was familiar with. He was confident; he didn’t give a _shit_ what people thought of him – he couldn’t get away with half of the things he said to people if he cared about hurting their feelings or looking like an ass.

And he _knew_ that Miko didn’t give a rats whether he had one mug, or a million mugs.

Mitch wasn’t exactly an expert at the friendship thing – he was too prickly, too easily annoyed, too arrogant to keep friends for long. Aud was right; Zahra tolerated him, and only because they’d basically joined Hinobi within a month or two of each other. Haneesh put up with him because Phil wouldn’t let him jump teams. He wondered if Miko was the same.

Just… tolerating him. Because she had to.

Not that he cared. He’d been working alone long enough that he was comfortable in his own space. Sure, having someone to take hits for you was handy at work, and having someone to talk to about the Rose Order was even better. Mitch Williams wasn’t _really_ sure if Miko was his friend.

Her words floated to the forefront of his mind, from when he’d called her on the roof.

_Because you seem… I dunno. Lonely? Feels like you need a friend._

What an idiot. She _wanted_ to be his friend. She’d said so, like… a million times. Why was he so bad at this?

‘…and then the goalie activated his jetpack, and the penalty shootout took place on the moon, but because of zero gravity the goal wasn’t counted because the moon is made of cheese-’

‘W-what?’ Mitch asked, his train of thought disappearing as his face scrunched up in a confused frown.

‘You heard me.’

‘Why are you talking about the moon?’

Aud just gave him a knowing look and let out a huge sigh. ‘The game is recorded on your telly,’ she said, pushing the barstool back and standing. ‘You can just watch the parts you missed once you’ve finished having a mental crisis.’

‘Sorry,’ he said, shifting so he wasn’t leaning on the counter. ‘Sorry Aud. I was listening.’

‘You were off with the faeries,’ Aud replied, grabbing her keys and her phone. ‘It’s all good bruv.’

Mitch’s shoulders sagged. ‘I’m working through some stuff.’

‘I’ll see you next weekend. We’ll pick you up and take you to see dad, yeah?’ she said, holding out an arm.

He allowed his older sister to drag him into a hug and snorted as she kissed him on the top of the head.

‘Eat some damn vegetables,’ she told him, and he just shut the door behind her in reply.

Mitch laughed to himself as he moved back to his kitchen. On autopilot, he washed his mug and showered and got dressed. Then he got in his crappy old car and went on the hunt for a set of cheap mugs.

*

> **ME-K.O:** did I leave my pink jumper at your place?

> **MitchWilliams:** yeah
> 
> **MitchWilliams:** want me to bring it to work?

> **ME-K.O:** nah
> 
> **ME-K.O:** I’ll just get it on Saturday
> 
> **MitchWilliams:** still coming here again?
> 
> **ME-K.O:** is that ok
> 
> **MitchWilliams:** idc

*

Miko wished, desperately, to be swallowed by the floor. 

That a god would smite her on the spot. 

That Count Nogrog himself would burst through her living room wall and run her through with a spword. 

‘Please don’t do this,’ she begged, but her mother levelled her with an ever-patient expression. 

‘You’ve told me that you’re not interested in Five, or Mitch,’ Mayumi said with a warm smile, like she knew something Miko didn’t. ‘And I believe you.’ 

‘Oh yeah, you _totally_ believe me,’ Miko snapped, crossing her arms. 

‘You are sixteen,’ Mayumi reminded her. ‘And I’d rather you hear it from me than learn the wrong thing from the internet.’ 

Miko was blushing right to the roots of her hair. ‘I don’t need the-’ She dropped her voice to a whisper. ‘ _Birds and the bees talk_.’ 

‘I gave it to Nica last year, and now I’m giving it to you. You can sit and listen, you can ask questions, but I need to know that you’re staying safe.’ 

Miko breathed in deep through her nose, and resigned herself to the longest, most awkward twenty minutes of her life. 

*

Why was she so nervous?

Mitch would be here any minute to pick her up, they’d get ready for HRO and he’d drive her there later. Her mum had bought the ‘staying with Five after the night shift’ excuse without any problems. She knew what to expect with HRO now.

And yet her hands were all… shaky.

She scuffed the sole of her shoe against the floor while she waited at the front door. Her mother hadn’t said anything about the fact that Mitch was picking her up, so she assumed that her father had said something about that, but after their talk this afternoon, Miko’s brain wasn’t exactly operating properly. 

Ugh, curse her mother (but not really, Miko loved her mum). 

Even without her parents hanging over her shoulder for a glimpse at their future son-in-law or whatever other concocted scenarios they were thinking about, Miko was still stuck with one nagging thought.

She’d never _had_ a crush on anyone before.

Would she even know if she had one? 

Would her body just send her ambiguous symbols, or would it be like the movies? Fireworks? Butterflies? A sense that no matter what happened, the universe would bring her to her beloved in the end?

Miko was a big fan of movies where cars got blown up, or heads got cut off. Maybe a crush felt like the explosions that the main characters stood in front of while they sucked face.

The arrival of Mitch’s car outside her house snapped her to attention.

‘I’m leaving!’ she called, picking up her bag. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow!’

‘Have fun!’ Mayumi called back from the kitchen. ‘Tell Mitch and Five we said hello!’

‘Will do!’ Miko replied, shutting the door behind her.

He’d leaned across the passenger seat to open the door for her by the time Miko got down there. ‘Get in loser,’ he said, by way of greeting.

‘Hi!’ she greeted with a roll of her eyes. She chucked her bag in first, then fell into the seat. Yeah, she didn’t have a crush. Her parents obviously didn’t know Mitch Williams very well. 

The car pulled away from her home, and she was delighted to find her pink jumper on the backseat waiting for her. 

‘We didn’t time this very well,’ he said. 

‘Why’s that?’ Miko asked with a frown, bucking herself in.

‘Well, it’s nearly five, and we don’t need to be at HRO until nine,’ he pointed out.

‘My mum expects me to have finished my shift by 9, I can’t stay home any later than this if I wanna keep up the ruse,’ she responded.

‘Well,’ Mitch said, tipping his head to one side. ‘We’ve got four hours to kill. What do you wanna do?’

Miko chewed her lip. ‘I assume you’re not cooking your own dinner?’ she asked.

Mitch made a _tch_ sound in response.

‘Spaghetti in a bucket?’ she offered. ‘My shout?’

He didn’t reply, but he did flick on his indicator and turn in the opposite direction from his apartment.

*

Mama Miyamoto’s was one of those places where it always seemed like a good idea to go there until you were actually sitting in a booth facing down a _literal bucket_ of pasta.

‘Why didn’t you get a kids pail instead of a bucket?’ Mitch teased with a smirk, sprinkling parmesan on his own meal.

‘I don’t know,’ she wailed. ‘This is way too much.’

‘Calm down, they’ll let you take the leftovers home,’ he replied.

The little booth fell into silence. Miko picked at her dinner – when they’d been on their little breakfast trip to the café they’d just come off a session with the Rose Order. There had been things to talk about. It struck Miko once again just how _bad_ she was at making friends.

But Mitch was bad at making friends too. That much was obvious. Right?

‘Do you actually like being friends with me?’ she asked out of the blue, and a piece of chicken slipped from his fork.

‘You can’t just ask shit like that, blueberry,’ he replied, stabbing the offending food like it owed him money. ‘What if you don’t like the answer?’

Her face fell. ‘Oh.’

‘No wait,’ he backtracked. ‘I didn’t mean it like that. Sorry. It’s more like… I don’t know?’

She just blinked at him, prompting him to continue.

‘I’m not exactly surrounded by a massive friend group, am I?’ he said, a little bitterness creeping into his voice. ‘I’m difficult to get along with. Not even Zahra thinks of me as a mate.’

‘Okay, well let’s be direct,’ she said, putting her fork down. ‘Do you think of me as a friend?’

‘I think you’re trying very hard to make it happen.’

‘Do you _want_ me to be your friend?’

Mitch lifted his chin slightly in defiance, like he’d been cornered into admitting something he didn’t want to admit. ‘Stop saying the word friend,’ he settled with. ‘It doesn’t sound like a word anymore.’

‘Buddy,’ she said with a grin. ‘Pal, mate, comrade-’

‘You’re _insufferable_ ,’ he said, pointing his fork at her.

‘I’m really not good at this either, you know,’ she replied.

Mitch raised an eyebrow. ‘Coulda fooled me,’ he mumbled.

Miko huffed and went back to her meatballs. When she looked up, Mitch was scrolling through his phone, and her mood deflated even further. Wow – was she that bad company? Maybe she was too forward. Or he was embarrassed to be seen with her.

She briefly regretted wearing her cat tights, but the thought vanished from her mind when Mitch set his phone down a little too hard.

‘Wanna play a game?’ he asked, not making eye contact.

She blinked. ‘What do you mean?’

‘A game,’ he repeated, a hint of frustration in his voice. ‘Like a… getting to know you type game?’

Her eyes darted over to the phone, face down on the booth table. ‘Did… did you google how to make friends?’

‘No,’ he said, far too quickly.

‘You did,’ she grinned. ‘That’s so cute.’

‘I’ve changed my mind.’

‘No, no,’ she said, waving a hand. ‘What’s the game? I wanna play.’

Mitch shrugged, reaching for his drink. ‘It’s a question game.’

‘Twenty questions?’ she asked. Miko might not have droves and droves of friends but she didn’t live under a rock.

‘Yeah, but if you ask a question, you have to answer it as well,’ Mitch said. ‘Stops you from being too nosy.’

‘Is that what google said, or did you just add it in to stop me from prying into your personal life?’

Again, Mitch huffed. ‘If this is what being friends is like, I’m seriously reconsidering,’ he mumbled, but she could tell he was bluffing.

‘Liar,’ she grinned. ‘Okay okay me first.’

‘Shoot.’

Damn. Now she had to think of a question. Start simple, Miko.

_Aha!_

‘What’s your favourite colour?’ she asked.

Mitch finished chewing his food before answering. ‘Blue. Or pink. I don’t know.’

‘How do you not know?’ she queried, earning her a roll of the eyes.

‘I can have two favourite colours.’

‘If you were in a car going off a cliff and you could only save one colour, which one would it be?’

The corner of Mitch’s mouth lifted as he tried to fight a smile. ‘I don’t think this is how you play the game.’

Miko made a pfft sound, skewering a meatball with her fork. ‘I think the game is to just get us talking to each other.’

Mitch hummed in response. ‘Well… I would save… pink… from the burning car.’

‘The car is burning now?’

‘Didn’t you say-’

‘I said it was going off a cliff.’

Mitch shook his head. ‘That’s dumb,’ he said, leaning forward. ‘I’m a good driver. I would never put _myself_ in that kind of danger, never mind my two favourite colours.’

Miko laughed, and it coaxed a grin from him.

‘Your turn,’ she said, scooping up more pasta.

‘No, you have to answer your own question first,’ Mitch pointed out.

Miko shot him a look of annoyance, her mouth full of spaghetti.

‘Okay, fine, don’t bloody choke,’ he said with a laugh. ‘Um… what is your favourite game?’

She swallowed and made a groaning noise. ‘That’s _way_ too hard to decide,’ she countered, reaching for her drink.

He quirked an eyebrow, and Miko knew there was no way she was backing down from his challenge.

*

Miko’s pasta slowly went cold as she uncovered more and more about the enigmatic Mitch Williams.

She learned that he’d failed his driver’s test the first time, that he’d sold all of his exclusive Hinobi merch to buy his car, that he’d been living out of home by himself for nearly a year and a half, and that he used to experience panic attacks.

She’d also revealed to him that she had a giant stuffed giraffe with a funny neck whose name was Mr Big, that she had done karate and swimming and gymnastics and basketball and dance and every other sport under the sun to try and help with her focus, she liked J-Pop and K-Pop and that she’d been too scared to get behind the wheel of her mum’s car even though she was legally allowed to start learning.

They’d spent so long just talking that Miko had all but forgotten that they still had a whole night of Rose Order training ahead of them. If all it took to make friends with someone was twenty lousy questions, she’d have a lot more.

‘Would you rather never play a Hinobi console ever again, or go on a date with that weird guy in the park that talks to the bench?’ Mitch asked. 

‘Ouch,’ she replied, resting her chin on her fist. ‘What kind of date?’

‘Probably to the park, to talk to the bench,’ Mitch snickered. ‘But you’d have to kiss him, it’s only polite.’ 

‘What if I don’t kiss on the first date?’ she countered. 

The Brit just rolled his eyes and looked at her expectantly. 

‘Fine, date with the park bench guy. He’d get a kiss on the cheek, then I’d play games for a week.’ 

‘Good call.’ 

‘You?’

‘Park bench guy for sure,’ Mitch grinned. ‘I don’t have any hobbies that aren’t games.’ 

‘Ah,’ Miko said, tapping her nose. ‘But do _you_ kiss on the first date?’

If she wasn’t mistaken, there had been a flash of… something… in his eyes, right before he rearranged his Mitch Williams persona into place and levelled her with his America’s Next Top Model pose. 

‘Gotta give the fans what they want.’ 

She couldn’t help but laugh at him, his shit-eating grin and his finger guns. There was a surge of affection in her chest for the idiot. 

‘Tell me about your parents?’ she asked casually, taking her turn in the game. 

The smile slipped from Mitch’s face almost instantly in response to her question, and his expression became closed off.

‘ _No_.’

Miko recoiled slightly from the coldness that crept into his voice, the way his demeanour shifted.

‘S-sorry,’ she said, a little frown creasing her brows.

Mitch looked like he was struggling with something. He made a move like he was going to take her hand but thought better of it and flipped his phone instead, checking the time.

‘It’s nearly seven. We need to start getting ready.’

She just nodded in understanding and got to her feet.

He paid, even though it was supposed to be her shout. 

*

The drive back to his apartment was tense and silent, and thoughts tumbled around Miko’s head that maybe she’d shot their tentative friendship in the foot already.

When his car rolled to a stop, the brakes squeaking ever so slightly, Mitch turned off the ignition but made no move to get out.

‘It’s…’ He stopped, chewing on his words. ‘I… don’t know how to explain it…’

‘Friendship level not high enough to unlock the tragic Mitch Williams backstory?’ she offered, hugging her bucket of leftover pasta.

To her surprise, he let out a soft chuckle. The gearstick shook in place as he tapped the heel of his palm against it.

‘You’re _such_ a nerd,’ he said with a smile.

‘They’re _your words_!’ she replied incredulously.

‘I _know_ ,’ he said, mood improving. ‘But you’re right, and it’s the perfect way to describe it.’

‘I didn’t mean to push too far,’ Miko said, still buckled in, not making any attempt to move from the stationary car. ‘We don’t have to play anymore.’

‘No,’ Mitch said casually, looking away. ‘It’s fine. It was fun. And I think there’s still five or six questions to go. I just can't answer _that_ one right now.’

‘Your turn then,’ she prompted.

Mitch Williams thought for a moment, then the corners of his mouth quirked upwards. ‘Want a cup of tea?’

*

Mitch’s room hadn’t changed since she was last in it, but now she was wide awake and quickly getting into her Rose Order uniform.

Or rather, she was sitting in her underwear on Mitch’s bed examining the fabric of her leggings. It was high quality and unlike anything she’d ever felt before. When she pulled on the fabric, she could see fine fibres that looked clear but caught the light as she moved it around.

Pulling the leggings up her body, Miko marvelled at how well they fit her. As her skin warmed the clear fibres, the stripe down the side reflected the same colour they had when she’d accepted her codename, but it didn’t glow. That was all her headset.

‘Blueberry!’ Mitch called, rapping on the door. ‘Tea!’

Miko ditched the thin stretchy jacket that accompanied her leggings, instead choosing to stay in her undershirt. Her favourite bear socks poked out from under the ankles of her uniform.

‘Blueberry tea?’ she asked with a cheeky grin as she exited the bedroom.

‘Ha-ha,’ he said sarcastically, pointing to a simple white mug on the counter. ‘It’s French Earl.’

‘La-di-da,’ she said, sticking her pinky out as she picked up the cup of black tea. At least it smelled okay. ‘Did you go buy new mugs?’

Mitch pulled a face. ‘My sister made me.’

‘Look at you, adulting,’ Miko teased.

As Mitch came around to her side of the counter, his eyes took in her appearance and he stopped dead.

‘The nerve of you to bring those _stupid_ socks into my house,’ he said, glaring at her feet half-heartedly.

Miko snorted into her tea, causing the hot liquid to spray up at her nose. ‘They’re _lucky_ ,’ she insisted. ‘They got us the Helm, right?’

‘No, no,’ Mitch said, stepping closer. ‘ _We_ got us the Helm. You and me and our crazy stupid amount of talent. Not your dumb socks.’

 _Huh_ , Miko thought to herself. _Mitch Williams thinks I’m talented._ She knew he thought that. But it was still strange to hear.

‘Ohh, I see how it is,’ she grinned slowly, standing up from the stool and stepping into his personal space. She could smell the heat from his tea on his breath as he stared down at her, a hint of a challenge in his warm brown eyes. ‘You’re _jealous_.’

Mitch snorted in response, the moment gone. ‘Jealous of your bear socks?’

‘Yes.’

‘If you say so.’

‘I do.’

‘Drink your damn tea, I’m getting changed.’

Miko raised her mug to his retreating form. ‘Have fun picking out some boring, unlucky socks!’ she called.

*

The drive to Hinobi was just as tense as the trip from Mama Miyamoto's, but for entirely different reasons. There was excitement between them, a sense of expectation and curiousness and if Miko was completely honest with herself, they felt like a pair of badasses.

Well, she did. She couldn’t speak for Mitch.

But the way he had his window down and his elbow resting on the sill, hair catching the breeze - as if he _wasn’t_ imagining himself in a movie. Probably with Queen playing dramatically in the background as they zoomed off to begin their mission.

Miko swallowed a laugh and settled for a grin.

Mitch caught her eye and quirked an eyebrow curiously, but he didn’t say anything.

Nerves and excitement bundled up together for them both as they stood shoulder to shoulder outside the dark Hinobi store.

‘Ready, Agent Indigo?’ Mitch asked.

‘Absolutely, Agent Blush,’ she replied, nudging him in the ribs with her elbow.

Unable to hold it much longer, Miko darted forward and pushed open the glass doors, not bothering to hold them open for her partner. He’d follow her, she knew that.

‘Bit eager?’ Phil asked, looking up from an inventory list. ‘Go ahead, you don’t need me to tell you what to do.’

‘See you later Phil!’ Miko called, her infectious good mood coaxing a smile from her manager.

‘Did you give her coffee?’ Phil asked Mitch as he passed.

‘It was tea, and it was low caffeine,’ Mitch countered. ‘Won’t be making the same mistake again, don’t worry.’

She snorted to herself. As if. The guy offered tea as a substitute for conversation. 

They shut the door to Phil’s office behind them and Miko wiggled her hands into the jacket portion of her uniform. Mitch did the same and activated his full helmet with a quick switch. Immediately his stripes lit up pink, and when the full visor encased her head, Miko’s uniform lit up a gorgeous purple.

Well, _Indigo_.

The portal appeared on the blank wall and the two Rose Techs took a deep breath.

‘Yellow, by the way,’ Miko said, her voice garbled by the headset.

‘Yellow?’

‘My favourite colour,’ she explained. ‘I never said anything earlier when you asked.’

She couldn’t read his expression, but she could sense that he was grinning at her. Her partner held out a gloved fist, which she touched with her knuckles.

‘Boosh,’ she said, blowing up the fist bump. 

‘Boosh,’ he agreed, his tone fond even with the filter.

The two of them stepped through the glowing pink mist and warped away from the Bailley Hinobi store. 

‘Welcome back, Agents,’ Thorn greeted them. ‘Please make your way to the training room at the end of the hall. It’s going to be a long night.’ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just take this dang chapter away from me: it's unedited, I'm sorry. I just... couldn't look at it anymore. I hate it.  
> Anyway. I just wanted to address real quick some fandom drama - I am vehemently pro-ship, and I (obviously) ship Mitchko. I also support Zahra/Five, Fiko, and Boosh shippers. Fandom is meant to be fun. And there's been some little fractures in our fandom recently and it hurts me so much to see people having at each other over fiction.  
> Focus on what you like, learn to utilise tag systems, ask people to tag if they've missed something.  
> Focus on getting our show renewed.  
> Stay safe (especially my friends in the US), and take care of yourselves.  
> ((Also there's a Mitchko Discord server now come find us))  
> Love, Stormy x


	10. Closer: Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year, Mitchko fans.   
> I hope your 2021 is safe and happy and you can use your diaries and see the people you care about.   
> NOTE: slight warning for a little bit of (movie) gore towards the end of the chapter. It's not that bad, but I'm just wanting to give you a heads up.

CHAPTER TEN:  _ CLOSER PART TWO _

__

The other Rose Agents were waiting for them, same as last time, and Miko raised a hand in greeting. Sky immediately waved back enthusiastically, and Moss dipped their head as well.

Honey and Scarlet were entirely still.

‘I hope you don’t have plans for tomorrow,’ Thorn began in her gravelly voice. ‘We’ll be going through some general housekeeping for this role, then breaking into groups for a physical exercise before coming back into this room for more housekeeping. You are permitted to take notes, however they must be left in your lockers at the end of the session. You are permitted to ask questions however I cannot guarantee that I will be able to answer them.’

Her steely eyes scanned the room. ‘Is everyone ready to begin?’

There was a smattering of agreement from the small group, all six of them sitting side by side on one long table. Miko found herself between Scarlet and Mitch with a few scraps of notepaper and a simple ballpoint pen in front of her.

‘Take my pen and paper,’ she said to Mitch, leaning across so that only he could hear her.

‘Why?’

‘I won’t take notes, but I  _ will  _ fidget, and Thorn will probably break my fingers for being a disturbance.’

‘You’re not as quiet as you think you are, Agent Trainee Indigo,’ Thorn said sharply, facing away to write something on the whiteboard.

Miko leaned away from Mitch, her face burning.

‘Hallway, please.’ Thorn may have added a please, but it was clear that this was an order.

She got to her feet, heart racing, and stepped into the hallway, and Thorn followed her out, the door snapping shut behind her.

‘I’m sorry,’ Miko said pre-emptively.

‘You’re not in trouble: lift your head, have some pride,’ Thorn said bluntly. ‘Your file has you diagnosed with ADHD, is this correct?’

‘Yes,’ Miko said with a nod. ‘I’ll do my best to not be a nuisance.’

‘Are you medicated?’

‘No ma’am.’

Thorn surveyed her for a moment, then shifted her weight to her back hip. It was amazing how the slight change made Miko relax. ‘I will keep this in mind,’ Thorn said, more so to herself. ‘The classroom style training won’t be this intense for long, but I will make sure we’re accommodating. You have the ability to be a fantastic, high ranking Rose Agent, Indigo, and we want you to rise in the hierarchy.’

Miko grinned behind her helmet. ‘Thank you!’

‘Inside please,’ Thorn said, stepping back.

She joined the rest of the group and gave Mitch a slight nod to let him know she was okay.

‘I apologise for the disruption,’ Thorn began. ‘As I was saying, today is housekeeping. It won’t be like this all the way through your training, but it is no less important than physical training. The first thing you need to understand is our expectations of you, and the process you’re about to undertake.’

Miko watched Mitch flick his pen around his fingers eagerly and leaned back in her chair. She had to concentrate, had to prove Thorn right.

‘There are five stages of your training,’ the Agent continued, her pen making squeaking sounds against the whiteboard, and her heels clicking as she paced back and forth. ‘You’re currently in stage  _ two _ – you know of the Rose Order and are undertaking basic training. What do you think stage one was?’

Honey’s hand flew into the air at the same time Miko blurted ‘The Rose Headset?’

‘Yes,’ Thorn said simply, writing it next to the huge “phase one” on the board. ‘We monitor you to determine if you’re suitable for HRO.’

Honey’s hand dropped silently.

‘Stage Three involves learning more about the Rose Order and our enemies, as well as different types of mission training, Stage Four will involve you undertaking actual missions, and then once Stage Five is complete you will be fully realised Rose Agents.’

Scarlet’s hand went up this time, not as ramrod straight as Honey’s but lazily, like he didn’t really care.

‘Where did Moss get to?’ he asked.

‘Agent Moss has completed Stage Five,’ Thorn said simply. ‘Their teammates did not. It was suggested that he undertake training again with a new team to ensure you are able to work as a team together.’

‘You all show more promise than they did,’ Moss added quietly, their arms crossed over their chest.

Thorn continued to talk and explain aspects of the Hinobi Rose Order. There were rules, some of them even delivered with the ghost of an amused smile.

Mitch had written them all down in his neat cursive. 

_ The first rule of the Rose Order is you don’t talk about the Rose Order _ .

Well, she’d already broken that rule, Miko thought with a stab of guilt. She’d told Five. She’d had numerous conversations in public about HRO with Mitch. There would need to be changes; after Thorn had given their expectations of her, she planned to live up to them.

_ Your identity is your greatest secret. Do not reveal it. _

Obviously, there were exceptions to the rule, Thorn had pointed out. Mitch and Miko being one of them. It was rare that duos were recruited, but when they showed promise as partners it was only natural to recruit them together.

_ Your helmet is not to be used outside of the Rose Order unless it is a life-or-death situation. _

This had been followed with a detailed overview of what their helmets could actually do; they could filter smoke and gas and poison; they could provide oxygen for around five minutes; they could protect the skull from blunt force trauma to a certain degree. They even had an emergency beacon so that HRO could find them if they were stuck, although it was rarely ever used.

Miko wondered what kinds of situations they’d be getting into that they needed protection from those things.

After an hour of talking, Thorn leaned against the table where she’d set up all her stuff. ‘Enough of that for now, everybody up. We’ll come back to this later.’

Thorn led them out of the room and down the hallway, past the lockers and past the room where the portals were generated.

‘Welcome to the true HRO,’ Thorn said simply, pushing through a heavy door and stepping aside to let them see.

The room was huge; much, much taller than anyone expected. The whole Hinobi store could fit in the space three times over, and there were various spaces separated from each other. It was almost wrong to call it a room, or even a hall. It was like a  _ warehouse _ or an aeroplane hangar. Rows of bright, white lights illuminated the whole space, and deep metal grooves cut through the floor in parallel lines. Miko wondered if partitions could be set up to divide the area.

‘Thorn,’ called a tech standing on a raised platform.

‘Trainees, this is Agent Aloe,’ Thorn explained as the young woman approached them with a skip in her step.

Agent Aloe was tall and fit and looked like a professional athlete. She had the grin of a detention kid, and a spark of something in her eye. ‘Nice to meet you!’

‘When you complete Stage Five, you’ll be allowed to choose a new codename that is plant-based,’ Thorn explained. ‘Aloe here is a recruit from the group before Moss’ original team, and now a Tier Three Agent. She is here to help me supervise.’

‘Have they had any training at all?’

‘This is their second session. They completed the maze in around three hours.’

Aloe clapped her hands together in delight. ‘That’s fast! Good job!’

‘Blush, you’ll be paired with Sky, Scarlet paired with Honey and Indigo paired with Moss,’ Thorn said in her bored voice. ‘The idea is to get your opponent to concede or knock them out of bounds.’

‘Wait, we’re  _ fighting  _ each other?’ Mitch asked, voice garbled by the filter.

Thorn pursed her lips. ‘Another important lesson for you all,’ she said simply, voice cold. ‘Glitches are not the only enemies of the Rose Order. You will need to learn to fight humans, and that is what we are assessing today.’

Miko felt excitement bubble up in her chest, and she started shifting her weight from one foot to the other. This was  _ real  _ spy stuff. When did she get her poisonous shoes or her explodo-pen?

‘You seem keen,’ Moss pointed out. ‘Do I need to remind you that I’ve already completed this training?’

Miko grinned at him, even though her mask hid it. ‘Good!’ she chirped. ‘I love a challenge!’

Moss made a sound that might have been a chuckle.

‘Who’s your leader?’ Aloe called.

‘Me,’ Mitch said, lifting his chin.

‘You’re up first then,’ the Agent said, gesturing for him and Sky to take their spot on the platform.

‘No tech,’ Thorn said sharply. ‘You won’t always be able to rely on it.’

Miko watched as Sky and Mitch stood opposite of each other, like they didn’t know what to do. Mitch started towards his opponent, but hesitated, and Sky used that to her advantage. She slipped through his defences and her tiny little fist clipped him in the stomach.

It wasn’t a hard hit - Sky was tiny and inexperienced after all – but it was obvious that Mitch wasn’t used to taking a punch.

‘Jesus,’ he grumbled, stepping back. ‘Was that necessary?’

‘Yes,’ Thorn said.

‘Hit her back,’ Aloe encouraged.

‘She’s  _ tiny _ ,’ Mitch called, gesturing to her.

‘Hey!’ Sky crossed her arms and cocked her hip. ‘I can look after myself!’

‘I don’t doubt it,’ Mitch replied. ‘But I’m not comfortable-‘

Sky didn’t let him finish, racing forward to slam her shoulder into his chest. Mitch’s hands gripped her shoulders to hold her back, but Sky just  _ shoved  _ against him.

Miko couldn’t help but grin as the little blue trainee pushed her work partner all the way to the edge of the platform, and over the line.

‘Sloppy, but a win nonetheless,’ Thorn muttered. ‘You’re both going to receive extra training from Aloe or one of her colleagues.’

Mitch grumbled as he stepped down and came to stand beside Miko. ‘Ridiculous,’ he said under his breath.

‘You should have fought it,’ Miko pointed out.

‘Like anyone else will do any better,’ he replied.

Scarlet and Honey did a lot better.

Well, not a lot. But at least they were both  _ trying _ to win.

Scarlet didn’t hold back in his attacks, but Honey was  _ fast _ . She darted around him, making him look slow and bumbling in comparison. She didn’t land a single hit on him until she ducked under a punch only to spin and push him harshly in the back. The red trainee’s momentum carried him forward and right over the line.

Thorn was much more impressed with this fight, and stated that they didn’t need extra training, but would receive mentorship during regular training.

Miko looked over at Mitch, and even though her expression was hidden, he still gave her a push.

‘Shut up.’

‘I didn’t say anything.’

‘Flirt on your own time,’ Aloe called cheerfully. ‘Indi, let’s get you up here with Moss!’

Miko lifted her chin and pretended she wasn’t bright red under her headset but stepped into the ring. Moss was staring at her, waiting for her to make the first move.

‘Do you want me to go easy?’ Moss asked.

‘No,’ said Thorn. ‘She needs to learn.’

‘Bring it on, Donkey Kong,’ Miko grinned, taking up a defensive stance.

He was in her personal space in a heartbeat.  _ Damn, he was fast. _

Miko barely managed to bring her arm up to block their fist, but she  _ was  _ fast enough to bring her knee up and into Moss’ ribs. He was about the same height as Mitch, but unlike her work partner, he was packed tight with muscle.

The green trainee grabbed her ankle and dragged her off balance, chucking her away from him with strength she didn’t expect from his frame.

She hit the ground with a huff, the breath knocked from her body, but got up in a heartbeat.

Moss was on her again, advancing quickly and using his size to intimidate her as he did so. Miko had been outsized by every opponent she’d ever faced, really, so she feinted to one side and snapped her foot around to the other side, connecting with his knee.

He didn’t go down like she’d planned, instead delivering a swift punch to her stomach and another to her side. When she threw her hands up to defend, he grabbed at both of her wrists and pulled her down to the ground in a rough tumble. Miko squeezed her eyes shut until they stopped moving; a solid weight on her chest said he had her pinned.

Cracking open an eye she saw that he had both of her wrists held in one large, gloved hand, and his knee pressed into her chest.

She attempted to throw him off or break the hold, but her body protested. It had been a while since she’d  _ actually  _ sparred, and she was running off of muscle memory alone.

‘Yield,’ she coughed, and he immediately stood, holding out a hand.

Miko allowed him to pull her to her feet.

‘You kicked me,’ Moss said, tenderly touching the spot on their ribs. ‘I wasn’t expecting that.’

‘I kneed you,’ she corrected, wheezing. ‘Beans, it’s been a while. I’m so unfit.’

‘You did well,’ they told her. ‘Once you get back into the swing of things, you’ll be a force to reckoned with.’

‘Thanks,’ she breathed, holding her hand out for a fist bump.

Moss bumped her fist and turned to join the others.

‘Are you hurt?’ Aloe asked, offering to help her walk.

‘Hurt yes, injured no,’ Miko summarised. Then she grinned. ‘That was fun!’

‘Good,’ Thorn said. ‘Change partners, go again.’

*

Back in the training room, Miko could feel her body starting to bruise. Mitch’s helmet was angled ever so slightly to face hers, like he was watching her, but she ignored him.

She’d barely raised a fist to him before he’d yielded in their match.

‘Be prepared for more sparring,’ Thorn was telling them. ‘You won’t progress in the stages until everyone is at a point where they can defend themselves.’

Miko rested her chin on her hands, eyelids drooping.

Concentration be damned – Miko was exhausted. Listening to Thorn talk about corporate structures and hierarchies was too much. Mitch would fill her in, surely.

*

He didn’t say anything to her as they made their way back to the portal room. Thorn activated it and caught Miko by the elbow before she could go through.

‘You did well,’ she said simply.

Miko beamed under the helmet, then followed Mitch through the glowing pink hole in the wall.

*

Mitch was waiting for her as she stepped back into Phil’s office, his helmet reduced to its standard setup so she could see the odd look on his face.

‘What the hell was that?’ he asked simply, the moment the portal closed behind her.

‘What was what?’

‘You held your own against  _ all of us _ ,’ Mitch pointed out. ‘Why are you so good at fighting people?’

Miko smirked as she collapsed her headset. ‘Did you listen to anything I told you when we were playing 20Q?’ she asked, voice light and teasing.

Mitch just quirked an eyebrow, cocking his hip to one side as he waited for her to explain.

She let out an explosive sigh. ‘My parents put me into millions of different extracurriculars to burn some of my energy. That included gymnastics and dance, and at least five different martial arts.’

‘Oh.’

‘So, if I kick your ass again next week, that’s why,’ she grinned, reaching for her fluffy pink jumper.

She pulled it on, and when her head popped out of the neck hole, Mitch was right there, an odd expression on his face.

‘Teach me,’ he demanded, a tiny frown on his face.

‘To fight?’

‘Obviously.’

‘I can’t do that,’ Miko spluttered. ‘I only did the basics myself!’

Mitch made a grumbling sound and turned away from her, snatching up his own jacket.

‘Okay, wait,’ she called, chasing him, ignoring Phil’s sarcastic goodbye as they both left his office without a word to him.

Mitch didn’t stop walking, but he angled his face towards her slightly, a silent indication that he was listening.

‘We’ll practice,’ she said. ‘We can use the training rooms here. You need all the help you can get.’

A grin lifted the corners of Mitch’s mouth, and he flung an arm around her shoulders. ‘If you tell anyone about tonight, I’m going to have to kill you.’

‘I’ve seen you punch,’ Miko pointed out. ‘Forgive me if I’m not shaking in my boots.’

Mitch shoved her away lightly, swallowing a laugh. ‘Rude.’

*

Miko woke up in Mitch’s bed the next morning, her mouth feeling strange as she remembered that she hadn’t brushed her teeth before crashing. After the sparring, both of them were dead on their feet as they entered the little apartment, and Mitch had declared himself too tired for tea even as he flopped onto the couch without another word.

The sound of a car moving around in the parking below the apartment complex was what woke her, and she groaned into his pillow. Her phone was dead on the nightstand, but the alarm clock told her it was around 8.

Grumbling to herself, Miko shuffled out of the bed and into the living room. Mitch was completely passed out on the couch, his old ratty blanket tangled around skinny legs and his hearing aid sitting on top of the little side table, next to his favourite mug.

She grinned and tiptoed into the kitchen, fixing herself a glass of water. Every time she moved, Miko was reminded of her sparring sessions last night. A quick trip to the bathroom proved her right, a nasty purple bruise blooming on her ribs and across her stomach. Despite the tenderness, there was pride. She’d earned those bruises, and she was sure that she’d given out a few as well.

A sharp knocking sound made her jump, and as Miko stepped out of the bathroom, the front door swung open to reveal Mitch’s older sister, Aud. Immediately, Miko froze. Her mind immediately jumped to the obvious implication of her being at his place so early in the morning and her heart sank to the pit of her stomach.

Surely it wouldn’t be too difficult to explain – Aud would understand, even without knowing about HRO.

‘Oh, come on,’ the green-haired woman grumbled, shutting the door behind her, and leaning over to tap her brother on the head.

Miko stood awkwardly by the counter as Mitch grumbled.

‘What?’ he slurred.

‘You’re hopeless,’ Aud told him, moving her hands to sign along with what she was saying.

Mitch sat upright, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes. ‘Shit, I’m sorry,’ he said loudly, half signing with one hand and reaching for his aids with the other.

‘Don’t you check your phone? I must’ve texted you five or six- oh, I am so sorry,’ Aud trailed off, finally noticing Miko.

‘No, I’m sorry for interrupting,’ Miko said quickly, holding out her hands. ‘I can go!’

Mitch looked between the two, his shoulders slumped and his expression that of a man woken way too soon.

‘It’s okay! Miko, right?’ Aud asked with a bright grin. ‘Audrey Williams.’

‘I know!’ Miko replied quickly. ‘I’ve been watching you stream for years!’ 

Aud beamed at her. ‘I was supposed to be picking up Mitchell here for a family thing, but I wasn’t aware he had company!’

She signed something to her brother that made him roll his eyes.

‘I’ll call you later?’ Mitch said by way of reply.

‘Sure,’ Aud replied with a smile. ‘Call later. Nice to see you again Miko!’

Miko just waved sheepishly.

‘Say hi to Dad for me?’ Mitch asked quietly, looking over his shoulder.

Aud nodded and let herself out with a wave, which left Miko standing awkwardly by the counter.

Mitch leaned on the back of the couch to look at her. He looked different; clad in only a plain black t-shirt that showed off skinny arms; his ears were actually visible without his huge Hinobi headset; there was even a shadow of hair on his jawline that hadn’t been there last night.

‘Tea?’ he asked, slightly exasperated, coaxing a grin from her.

And so Miko sat on her usual stool, sipping at tea while Mitch stood opposite her, his butt leaning against the opposite counter.

‘So, you had plans with your family today?’ Miko asked over the rim of her cup.

‘I was meant to go visit my dad,’ he told her.

Just yesterday he’d been reluctant to talk about anything, so Miko didn’t pry, but he continued unprompted.

‘He lives in a care home with some form of Alzheimer’s or Dementia… very early onset,’ Mitch explained. ‘Apparently it’s not normal to forget your wife and kids exist when you’re forty.’

‘And I stopped you from seeing him!?’ Miko said after a moment.

Mitch snorted. ‘I never go anyway,’ he confessed. ‘Sometimes he remembers Aud or the twins, but never me. It’s just easier on everyone.’

Miko’s legs moved without her brain really giving them permission, her mug abandoned on the counter. She wrapped her arms around his middle and hugged her partner tightly, resting her cheek on his chest.

‘What… are you doing?’

‘I’m sorry. That’s sucky.’

Mitch tentatively hugged her back. ‘It’s just how it is, I guess. He’s happy and healthy otherwise, he just doesn’t know about some parts of his life.’

‘But it’s still hard on you,’ Miko pointed out. ‘I don’t know if I can help but… I’m here?’

Mitch rested his cheek on the top of her head, and Miko felt heat crawl up the back of her neck.

‘This… works. This is good.’

He was warm, and she could feel his heartbeat through her cheek. And the way they were, it was almost more comfortable for Miko to just stay put. Pulling away now meant confronting her decision to hug him in the first place.

For some reason, she shifted so that her chin was pressed to his sternum, and she was looking up at his face.

‘What are you staring at?' he asked, not unkindly, looking down at her.

'You have ears,' she pointed out, reaching up to tug at one of his earlobes.

His expression faltered; eyebrows creased in confusion. 'I… what?'

'You have ears, and it’s just odd seeing them,' she explained, grinning up at him. 'You're normally wearing a headset.'

Mitch just stared at her, confused, cogs ticking over in his mind. He opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it, and then let out a short burst of laughter that had her grin widening.

'You… I mean… I don't really know… how do I respond to that?' he said, looking down at her fondly. ‘Of course I have ears.’

'You can say… " _ all the better to hear you with, my dear _ " but in a crotchety old lady voice,' she suggested.

‘But it’s...  _ no _ _t_ all the better to hear you with,’ Mitch pointed out, touching the smaller hearing aids that he was wearing in lieu of the larger headset.

‘Humour me.’

Mitch rolled his eyes and sighed, hugging her again. 'All the better to hear you with, my dear,' he said simply, looking down at her through dark lashes.

She beamed at him for a moment, a beat, a slight suspension of time as they shared something. Miko couldn’t help but wonder if maybe her mum was right?

‘Thanks, Miko,’ he said quietly.

‘What are work partners for?’ she asked with a shrug.

*

**Audrey:** so

**Audrey:** are you gonna keep denying it or

**MitchWilliams:** help me obi wan kenobi

*

It felt unusual to be at Hinobi on her day off, not wearing her uniform either. She’d skived off babysitting Lexi on the promise that she’d owe her parents a favour later, grabbed a mysterious box of leftovers from the fridge for lunch and ridden her bike all the way to the store in time for opening.

‘You’re in today?’ Haneesh greeted with a wave, tipping his head slightly.

‘Nah,’ Miko replied, rapping her knuckles on the help desk as she passed. ‘Need to use the facilities downstairs for something. Phil said it was fine.’

He actually hadn’t, but Miko knew it would be. Phil loved her, right?

‘Oh cool. I have my lunch break at eleven thirty if you wanna join? I’ve got a new deck and I think I can finally beat Bergy,’ Haneesh grinned, his voice oozing confidence.

‘Now  _ that  _ I’d love to see,’ she replied, pushing open the doors to the back room. She’d beaten Mitch here on purpose, it would give her a chance to lock down the training rooms so that no one knew what they were doing.

Stepping out onto the mezzanine that overlooked the rest of HQ, Miko barely paused to take it in. She raced to the stairs and bolted down them two at a time, took a sharp turn down a hallway until she found the training rooms. They were around the same area as that dreaded tutorial, some visible from the outside and others hidden away for privacy.

With a swipe of her staff card, the doors to TR1 slid open with a hiss, and Miko assessed the space. It was about the size of a classroom, with reinforced walls to withstand the average tech’s more insane abilities and weapons.

She carelessly chucked her bag into a corner and approached the computer. It gave her a bunch of minor mapper mods to use, and with a grin Miko selected a classic Pokémon battle arena. It would give them defined lines to work within, as well as surrounding them with a fake crowd of Pokémon trainers and pocket monsters.

Finally, Miko ditched her jacket and started to stretch. She’d never been good at stretching, much preferring to skip it and just get right into the action, but she also wanted to get better, and apparently, that meant stretching.

She managed about six whole minutes of stretching before getting bored and giving up, instead laying on her back in the middle of the room playing Ballz on her phone.

‘Well, this is ridiculous,’ came Mitch’s voice from the door.

Miko rolled over to look at him, a wicked grin splitting her face. ‘Why’s it ridiculous?’ she asked, sitting upright.

‘I’d  _ never  _ lose if we were playing Pokémon,’ he pointed out, setting his bag down next to hers.

Miko snorted. ‘As if you could beat my Altaria,’ she provoked.

Mitch just gave her a knowing smirk.

He looked good, she thought. He was wearing a pair of expensive-looking running leggings and his own merch shirt, loose around his skinny frame.

‘So, are we doing this, or what?’ he pressed, offering her a hand and pulling her to her feet.

‘Yeah, let’s go,’ Miko nodded, sweeping her hair up into a bun and taking up a solid stance. ‘Okay Boosh man, hit me.’

*

Mitch was a quick study, but he was also a walking, backtalking rake with all the power of a wind-up Hot Wheels car. Miko kicked his ass using only 10% of the energy she’d used on Moss.

Since she was supposed to be teaching him (and her muscles were sore: in her defence, she’d gone toe-to-toe with Moss not even three days ago and she was still smarting) Miko made sure to break down the basics. She helped him improve his stance: she taught him to direct his power more efficiently.

She barely even registered the fact that she was touching him, guiding his elbows and hands, squaring his shoulders. He didn’t acknowledge it either, eyes locked ahead of him as he followed her instructions.

‘Okay, I need a break,’ she huffed eventually, reaching for her water bottle.

‘Good call,’ Mitch replied, falling onto his ass and pushing his hair off his forehead. ‘I’m never gonna get this.’

‘Yes, you will,’ Miko assured him. ‘You just have to up your strength or find a way to use your opponent’s strength against them.’

Mitch let out a chuckle. ‘You’re just going to kick my ass from here to Sunday every week, aren’t you?’

‘You love it,’ Miko teased, offering him a hand up.

He took it but didn’t look her in the eye. ‘I’m gonna go get some lunch. Do you want anything?’

‘I grabbed lunch,’ she said, prying open the lid of the lunchbox she’d taken from the fridge. Her face fell instantly. ‘Dammit.’

Mitch peeked inside and stifled a snicker behind his hand. ‘Slime?’

‘Lexi,’ Miko growled.

‘You want noodles?’

‘Yeah, I’ve got some cash,’ Miko nodded, shoving the slime box back in her bag. ‘I said I’d have lunch with Haneesh though.’

‘Oh, okay.’

‘It’s not exclusive dude, you can sit with us,’ Miko rolled her eyes, swiping her card to lock the training room behind them, signalling that it was still in use.

‘Right.’

The two walked side by side, running into Haneesh by the lockers.

‘We’re gonna get noodles, do you want anything?’ Miko asked brightly.

Haneesh was delighted at an excuse to not eat his lunch from home, and the three meandered over to the Noodle King. Mitch was quiet, focused on his phone while Miko and Haneesh chattered.

‘It feels like I haven’t worked with you in forever,’ Haneesh said, bumping Miko with his shoulder.

‘I know, we haven’t had many big glitches to take down as a team,’ Miko lamented.

‘Do you miss working with Five?’

‘Sometimes,’ she said. ‘He’s my best friend!’

‘He’s working in a duo with Zahra today,’ Haneesh grinned, holding open the door to Noodle King for her and Mitch.

The senior tech snorted. ‘So they’re going to distract each other for the whole shift then.’

‘Probably not,’ the shorter boy agreed.

Miko ordered for her and Mitch without even asking what he wanted – ah, the benefits of 20Q – and she found a table for the three of them while Haneesh ordered for himself.

‘So, what’s going on with you two?’ Haneesh asked, falling into the chair opposite Miko.

‘What do you mean?’ she frowned.

‘You’re always together nowadays,’ Haneesh said, looking over at Mitch as he waited for their food.

‘I mean… he’s my partner,’ Miko said with a shrug, tucking her card back into her wallet. ‘We work together, just like you and Zahra and Five.’

‘Yeah, but we don’t come into work on a day off and hole up in a training room,’ Haneesh pointed out. Then his expression changed to one of panic. ‘Oh my gosh, did I interrupt a date?’

‘No!’ Miko said, a little too fast and a little too loud.

Mitch looked over at them curiously, an eyebrow quirked.

‘We’re not dating, don’t be silly,’ she assured her friend. ‘We’re just working on some team-building stuff.’

Haneesh gave her an amused look.

‘Do you like him?’ he asked point blank.

‘As a friend,’ Miko replied, pointing at him with her cheap disposable chopsticks. ‘We’re good friends. He’s not such a jerk when he opens up a little.’

‘Oh, so you’re opening up to each other, are you?’

‘ _ Haneesh _ ,’ Miko said, feigning shock. ‘The nerve of you!’

‘What are you two old biddies gossiping about that’s soooo outrageous,’ Mitch muttered as he placed Miko’s box of food gently in front of her.

‘Miko has a crush,’ Haneesh said simply. ‘Where’s mine?’

‘What’d your last slave die of?’ Mitch said with a roll of his eyes. 

‘You waited for Miko’s.’

‘Yeah, she paid for mine,’ Mitch snarked, a spark of his default stellar personality coming back. ‘Go get your own food.’

Haneesh shrugged, used to his ex-team leader’s attitude and went to collect his food.

‘That was rude,’ Miko pointed out as Mitch sat beside her.

‘It’s not even done yet, I wasn’t going to let mine go cold,’ he pointed out, opening his box and digging in immediately. ‘Don’t look so surprised, you’ve known me long enough to know what I’m like.’

‘Yeah, but it doesn’t mean I have to agree with it,’ Miko grumbled, fishing a snow pea from her food. In her pocket, her phone chimed.

**Haneeeeeeeesh:** u think hes mad bc I interrupted your date?

**ME-K.O:** :middle_finger_emoji:

**Haneeeeeeeesh:** the sass on u oml

‘It’s okay that Han came to lunch, right?’ Miko asked, nudging Mitch with her elbow.

‘I don’t particularly care,’ Mitch replied, nudging her back. ‘Just means we can’t talk about why we’re actually here today.’

Haneesh joined them again, and struck up a casual conversation with Miko, while Mitch just listened half-heartedly and ate his lunch.

*

Mitch coughed as Miko slammed him into the mat, winded.

‘You’re distracted,’ she said, breathing heavily from the effort. ‘Trust me, I know distracted. I’m the Queen of Distracted. And you, sir, are distracted.’

‘Stop saying distracted,’ Mitch wheezed, sitting up and pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. ‘I’m fine. I’m just sick of getting my arse handed to me.’

‘Then fight back,’ Miko said, nudging him with her toe.

‘I don’t really want to hit you,’ Mitch said, reaching for his water bottle.

Miko crossed her arms and cocked her hip. ‘You’ve gotta get over this whole “don’t hit girls” business, because Thorn isn’t gonna let you get away with it.’

‘It’s not because you’re a girl, Jesus,’ Mitch snapped. ‘I know it’s highly unlikely since my arms are al dente pasta, but I don’t  _ actually  _ want to hurt  _ you _ .’

She laughed, holding her tummy as she doubled over. ‘Come on, try again,’ she giggled, hauling him to his feet.

‘Who’s your crush?’ Mitch asked instead, a playful edge to his tone, but something else undercutting it.

‘My what?’

‘Han said you had a crush. I’m honestly disappointed you told him and not me. I thought we were friends.’

Miko flushed to the roots of her hair and crossed her arms. ‘I didn’t tell him anything because I don’t have a crush on anyone,’ she said firmly. ‘He was just teasing.’

Mitch just nodded like he didn’t believe her. ‘Is it me?’

‘What?’ Miko spluttered, staring at him.

Had he really just asked her that? Where did he get off with that much confidence? Who just outright asks someone that question?

It took her brain a few seconds to mentally sort out a clear, concise and eloquent answer, but for some reason all she blurted out was ‘I don’t have a crush on  _ you _ !’

Mitch rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. ‘Wait- I didn’t mean it like  _ that _ ,’ he grumbled, not meeting her eyes. ‘I meant did he think we were… secretly dating, or whatever. Because my sister won’t leave me alone about it.’

Miko’s shoulders sagged. ‘ _ Yes _ , oh my gosh,’ she said, reaching for his sleeve. ‘Why can’t they just accept that we’re friends?’

‘Because they suck.’

Miko buried her face in her hands. ‘Your sister must think some really bad things about me, staying at your place,’ she groaned.

Mitch just chuckled. ‘No, she knows nothing happened. She thinks you’re funny though, could make a fortune streaming, apparently,’ he added with a playful roll of his eyes.

‘Really?’

‘Yeah. If she tries to poach you for the Furious Four, don’t take it,’ he instructed. ‘You’re better than them and they’ll only hold you back.’

‘Harsh,’ Miko grinned.

‘True,’ he fired back, completely sincere. ‘Now come on, or else Sky’s gonna beat me up again and my ego can’t take that again.’

A spike of affection went through her, and she wordlessly took up her stance, a challenge in her eyes and a smile on her face.

*

‘ _ Welcome back Mitch stans, today we’ve got a special guest joining us. After all of your incessant nagging to bring her back, ME-K.O has graced us with her presence.’ _

_ ‘Hello!’ _

_ ‘Don’t encourage them, blueberry. They’re voracious.’ _

_ ‘That there is an 18-point word, folks.’ _

_ ‘Shut up. Anyway. ME-K.O thinks her Altaria can take on my team singlehandedly and win, but what she doesn’t know is that my main partner is Sylveon, and together we’re going to take her down.’ _

_ ‘Wait- what?’ _

*

**MitchFTW:** thanks everyone for joining the stream! Go follow ME-K.O on all socials @me-k.o.

*

**You have 18 new follow requests, ME-K.O!**

*****

‘Are you going to ignore me all night, or am I allowed to participate in activities in my own home?’ Lexi grumbled, climbing onto a breakfast stool.

‘You can help,’ Miko said, handing her a bowl full of marshmallows. ‘Chop those up small.’

‘What are you making?’

‘Rocky road!’ Five beamed, stirring freshly melted chocolate. ‘It’s messy and while it sets we can order pizza!’

‘Are you just going to play games and eat pizza and talk about games and work?’ Lexi asked, unimpressed as she meticulously cut the marshmallows into even chunks.

‘What do you want to talk about?’ Five asked her.

Miko just smiled to herself as she prepped baking paper. Five was always way better at the babysitting thing than she was.

‘I dunno. Can we watch an M rated movie though?’ she asked, batting her eyelashes.

Five gave Miko a look.

‘I don’t care,’ Miko shrugged. ‘As long as you don’t have nightmares and go blabbing to mum.’

‘I won’t!’ Lexi promised, eyes shining. ‘I want to watch something with zombies!’

Five let out a nervous chuckle, twisting the bottom of his sleeve in response.

Miko put a hand on her best friend’s shoulder: he’d never been good with horror movies whether they were genuinely scary or not.

‘We’ll watch cartoons after,’ she promised in a soft whisper.

‘Thank you,’ he replied, equally quiet.

*

Miko was struggling to take a sneaky photo of Five without him noticing. Her best friend had tucked his knees close to his chest, long legs nearly folded in half, peeking at the television through his fingers.

Lexi was sitting between them, her eyes glued to the television where a zombie was currently in the process of chasing down a stereotypical teenager.

‘I didn’t think zombies could run that fast,’ she whispered, tugging the blanket the three of them shared closer to her chin.

‘It’s just a movie,’ Five said, although Miko was unsure whether he was saying it to Lexi or himself.

Miko peeked down at her phone, a dim light hidden by a fold in the blankets. While zombies gnawed at some poor victim’s limbs, she stifled a smile.

**ME-K.O:** he’s freaking out

**MitchWilliams:** lol ofc he is

**MitchWilliams:** bc he’s a nerd

**ME-K.O:** hey

**ME-K.O:** that’s MY nerd

**ME-K.O:** leave him alone

**MitchWilliams:** has the guy been chainsawed in half yet

**ME-K.O:** oh no

**ME-K.O:** I forgot about that

**ME-K.O:** I can’t let my little sister see that!!!!!

**MitchWilliams:** Lexi?

**MitchWilliams:** That kid’s bombproof

**MitchWilliams:** Maybe give your blueberry buddy a heads up tho

**ME-K.O:** Mitch

**ME-K.O:** Mitch he’s gonna cry

**MitchWilliams:** It will be glorious

**MitchWilliams:** I wish I could see it

**ME-K.O:** I’m gonna have to deal with both of them freaking out

**MitchWilliams:** next time u watch a horror movie watch it with someone who can stomach it

**ME-K.O:** is that your way of saying you’re jealous we’re watching horror movies without you

**MitchWilliams:** I’m not jealous

**MitchWilliams:** I just think you’re wasting a perfectly good horror movie night

**ME-K.O:** next time you can come watch horror movies with me and Lex

**ME-K.O:** Five can come on the romcom nights

**MitchWilliams:** damn straight

Miko smiled as she switched off her phone screen and looked up at the tv again. As Mitch had predicted, a chainsaw was being revved up and Five was no longer pretending that he wasn’t hiding.

Lexi was staring at the screen in slack-jawed awe as blood and guts flew in all different directions.

‘You good?’ Miko asked, looking over Lexi’s head at Five, whose shaky nod morphed into an insistent shake.

‘Cartoons afterwards right?’ he squeaked, looking over at her without looking at the screen.

‘Of course,’ she said, reaching out and squeezing his shoulder.

‘Look at all the blood,’ Lexi whispered. ‘Is that his  _ spine _ ?’

Five whimpered again.

Miko snuggled further down into the blankets, hugging her phone close to her chest.

*

**ME-K.O:** he cried so much

**MitchWilliams:** loool

*

‘I can stay up and watch cartoons too, right?’ Lexi whispered, pressing her chin into Miko’s collarbone.

‘Of course,’ the older sibling said, hugging her little sister tight. ‘But only if you can go all the way to the kitchen and grab some snacks without getting your brains eaten.’

Lexi summed up all her courage and made her way to the kitchen, dragging the blanket with her like a protective cape.

‘Why do we do this?’ Five whined, falling sideways so his head landed in his best friend’s lap.

‘Lexi’s fault,’ Miko replied, patting his head.

As Five scrolled for cartoons on Netflix, Miko let her mind wander.

She couldn’t quite picture Mitch in the place of Five. Their movie nights or game nights were special – or at least they were comfortable. The idea of Mitch lounging all over her couch or eating crappy snacks and teasing her sister didn’t quite click in her mind.

And yet that’s what  _ friends  _ meant for Miko. It meant spending time in the company of her siblings, or Five’s grandparents, playing games and eating food and sitting through horror movies.

Maybe with Mitch it wouldn’t even be cheesy zombie horror. She could move onto like… big kid horror. And he’d watch it with her. Without hiding or needing a cartoon break. Maybe they’d make fun of the idiots on screen being terrorised by ghosts or monsters.

And Mitch wouldn’t need comforting, so there wouldn’t be any need to hold his hand.

Like he’d want to.

Because that would be ridiculous.

Lexi re-entered the living room with a dramatic stumble that snapped Miko from the thought of holding Mitch’s hand.

‘You good?’ Five asked.

‘Yeah,’ she said, glad for the dim room and the low-light of the Netflix menu screen. ‘All good.’

‘Let’s watch some cartoons!’ Lexi declared, chucking a bag of chips at her sister’s head. ‘Not that I’m scared. Just… for Five. He needs them.’

‘Oh sure, throw me under the bus,’ Five snickered, sitting up.

‘If the bunny slippers fit,’ Lexi snarked back, falling back between the two of them.

Miko smiled to herself.

It couldn’t get better than this.

*

**MitchWilliams:** night scrub

**MitchWilliams:** call me when you wanna watch real horror

**ME-K.O:** night jerk

**ME-K.O:** if you’re too scared to watch them alone that’s fine

**ME-K.O:** you don’t have to pretend

**MitchWilliams:** go to sleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This leaves us 1/3 of the way through our fic. Remember, comments let me know that you've enjoyed it.   
> I know the fandom is shaky right now, and I hope you're all taking care of yourselves.   
> Also oml we've got the good stuff this chapter, I think? Like hugs and feelings and backstory - ah I'm excited.   
> See you again for Chapter 11!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, please share the fic and leave a review!  
> A huge thank you to Su for beta'ing and generally listening to me scream about my dumb ideas.  
> Don't forget to come hang out in Hinobicord and chat Mitcko and Glitch Techs!  
> Link in the official GT Reddit xoxo


End file.
